Arrest made in Mesa school bus driver assault: PD
MESA, Ariz. - Mesa Police officials say an arrest has been made in connection with an April 11 assault incident that left a school bus driver injured.
In a statement released on April 17, investigators said they arrested 27-year-old Hermenegilda Marquez for her alleged role in the assault.
Police also provided new details on what allegedly happened, with investigators saying the incident took place after the victim dropped off children at a designated stop in a residential neighborhood near McKellips Road and 4th Avenue.
According to court documents, the victim, identified as a 64-year-old woman, told police she was a substitute driver and does not normally drive the route.
Investigators said Marquez fled the scene in a car before officers arrived. She was arrested on Wednesday.
Per court documents, video provided by school district officials shows Marquez entering the school bus and yelling at the driver. Eventually, the assault took place, with the suspect allegedly swinging at the victim, and later slapping the victim repeatedly in the head and face before "closing her hands into fists and continuing to pummel the victim with both hands."
Hermenegilda Marquez
"A male (later identified as the defendant's boyfriend) runs onto the bus and grabs the defendant and pulling her off of the bus," read a portion of the court documents.
Marquez, according to investigators, was arrested on Wednesday.
"The defendant was read her Miranda rights verbatim from a Mesa Police Department Miranda card, and she said she understood her rights. The defendant was asked if she knew why she was arrested, and she immediately invoked her right to counsel," investigators wrote. "The defendant was shown video of the attack on the bus and was told that because she was on video committing the assault, she would be charged with a felony, but she showed no emotion upon hearing this."
Marquez, per court documents, is on unsupervised probation for assault. She is accused of aggravated assault on a school employee, which is a felony.