Bay Area bus driver placed on leave over racist outburst in parking dispute
A bus operator for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is under investigation Tuesday after cellphone video showed him yelling racial epithets at a woman during a parking dispute.
Video shows the bus operator, who wore a uniform but was driving his own vehicle, squaring off with a woman over a parking spot near a Muni yard Monday in a San Francisco neighborhood.
During the dispute, the man made racist remarks to Mayra Villarreal as she recorded the argument with her cellphone.
Villarreal shared the video with her boyfriend, who posted it on Facebook, KGO-TV reported.
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The video caught the attention of Muni officials, who have now launched an investigation into the racist rant.
“We do not tolerate this type of hateful behavior at our agency,” the railway’s spokesman Paul Rose said. “We will conduct an investigation and seek full disciplinary action, which includes termination.”
The driver has been placed on leave.
Muni officials have apologized to Villarreal, Rose said.
Villarreal told KGO-TV that she whipped out her cellphone camera because she feared the confrontation would become violent. The bus operator continued to yell at her even after she stopped filming, she said.
Muni officials, she said, have responded swiftly to the incident.
“You don’t want somebody like that representing you, especially working for the city,” Villarreal told the news station.
San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee said the incident was disturbing, especially in a city that “celebrates and embraces diversity.”
“This ugly behavior will never be tolerated,” Lee said in a statement. “City employees must always represent the values of our city at all times. Our fellow city employees and the public deserve nothing less.”
For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter.
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