WDW Bus Driver Assaulted by Guest
Disney bus driver placed on paid leave after YouTube confrontation
Video shows man shoving, choking driver at Disney's Hollywood Studios.
By Jeff Weiner, Orlando Sentinel
12:06 AM EDT, October 15, 2010
A Walt Disney World Resort bus driver has been placed on paid leave after a physical confrontation between the driver and a guest that was captured on video and uploaded to YouTube.com.
In the video, which the YouTube poster says was shot at Disney's Hollywood Studios, a person shoves and chokes the driver of the bus in what appears to be an unprovoked attack.
According to the video description, the would-be passenger in the video was upset when the driver told him that he and his family would have to wait for another bus to take them to Epcot.
The description says the video starts in the middle of the incident, missing "the most intense part of this fight."
From the video description: "A man and his wife with her baby were waiting for the bus. There wasn't enough room on the bus so the bus driver told them he would call another one. The man was enraged and threw the baby at the bus driver. The woman got her baby and moved back away from them."
That's when the unknown cameraman started recording, the description says, capturing a brief flurry of shoving, and the passenger putting his hands around the bus driver's throat.
In the video, screams can be heard from the crowded area when the confrontation escalates. Several people in the area call for security.
After the two men are separated, the would-be passenger tells a security officer that the bus driver was blocking him and his wife from getting on.
"He see me, I was waiting here … and he tried to block me" the man says in the video. "He let everyone passing through get in first before us."
As the bus driver begins to tell his side of the story, the man interrupts. "We have a baby, you know," he says. "We're supposed to get the priorities."
A Disney spokeswoman said the bus driver had been placed on paid leave while the company reviews the incident.
The company would not provide further comment while the confrontation is being investigated.