Another CA'n gov't-owned train rattled by passenger violence
San Jose isn't the only Californian city where public transportation—once a hallmark of all successful and progressive urban areas—is sinking in quality and losing once-loyal riders in droves. Many no longer feel safe taking the train to work and back. In recent news, the Westside Current reports that local Eric Lewis was viciously beaten by eight teenagers who were also on LA's Metro Expo train.
SANTA MONICA - Eric Lewis has been taking Metro’s Expo train from Downtown Los Angeles to his job in Santa Monica everyday undisturbed for the past three years until April 19 at 11:15 a.m. when he was attacked and violently beaten by eight juvenile males
Lewis said it all began when some of the young men began delaying the train by preventing the doors from closing near the last stop. The suspects were taking pictures causing commuters on the packed train, including himself, to plead with the boys to “stop holding the doors open, get back on the train, we’re going to be late, we got to get to work.”
When boys joined their other friends, Lewis said they zeroed in on him as he was seated near their group and began to taunt, harass and throw items at him. Flustered yet calm about the situation, Lewis said, no matter what occurred, he kept his head down looking at his phone as they neared the last stop....
As he exited the train, he felt a “whack” on the back and turned around to see one of the boys swinging his skateboard....
The next thing Lewis remembers is being in the middle of the street, on the ground braced for what he says he “knew what was coming.”
“I just remember getting beat,” Lewis recalled, “and being hit well over 50 times.”
Lewis said that as they continued to beat him he asked them to stop repeatedly but the teens did not relent and continued their assault with their fists, skateboards, and feet while one reached into his vest and eventually grabbed his phone.
This article originally appeared in the Westside Current. Read the whole thing here.
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