ST. CROIX — A Superior Court judge detained a St. Croix Central High School senior accused of assaulting a school bus driver during an advice of rights hearing today despite a request from the defense to release the 18-year-old student that was unopposed by the prosecution after deeming the defendant as a risk to the community.
A strike started today by school bus drivers on St. Croix in solidarity of their beaten colleague is expected to continue Friday, leaving it up to parents and guardians to transport their children to and from school for another day until bus service resumes on Monday, according to a representative of the bus company.
Caleave Mascall Jr. was arrested Wednesday after allegedly assaulting a 70-year-old school bus driver while getting off the bus at his stop near the entrance to Estate Strawberry. He is also accused of punching and breaking the glass to the bus door.
A video showing the school bus driver being beaten by students has been widely circulated on social media.
Mascall’s bail was set at $25,000. Unable to post bail, he was remanded to the John A. Bell Adult Correctional Facility pending today’s advice of rights hearing.
After reviewing the probable cause fact sheet, which is a sworn statement by a police officer, Judge Jessica Gallivan found probable cause to charge Mascall with third-degree assault, damaging or tampering with a vehicle, and disturbance of the peace.
Mascall, who participated in the hearing virtually while in custody of the Virgin Islands Bureau of Corrections, informed the judge that he understood the charges against him. Mascall, who wore red prison attire while seated at a table, appeared on TV screens located behind the judge and on the wall inside the courtroom.
Lawson King, the school bus driver, filed a report at the police station describing an incident on the bus during which three male students assaulted him while at a stop, according to the probable cause fact sheet prepared by police officer Veronica Smithen.
King, who was treated for injuries at the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital and Medical Center, alleged that one of the students, later identified as Mascall, started punching him in his head before being joined by two other students. Smithen noted that she observed a bump on King’s head and a swollen eye in addition to seeing a video on social media that showed him on the floor of the bus while being beaten by three male individuals.
Mascall was later identified from a 911 call the parent of the other two students made to report that her two minors were allegedly assaulted along with Mascall. After police contacted Mascall at his residence and advised him of his rights, he gave a statement at the police station admitting his involvement in the attack. Mascall said he saw one of the minors swing at the bus driver, so he also started punching the driver, hitting him several times in the chest.
During the hearing, Gallivan advised Mascall of his rights to remain silent, to be represented by an attorney at no cost if he could not afford one, to have a trial by jury or by the court, to confront witnesses, to call witnesses, to testify without being forced to do so, and to bail. Mascall said he understood his rights. The judge then considered whether Mascall should be released from custody pending trial.
Assistant Territorial Public Defender Carol Campen requested that Mascall be released on bond not to exceed $200.
“That’s all the family can afford,” she said.
Campen, while discussing proposed conditions of release, said a third-party custodian had been identified, Mascall would not leave the island, he would report to his probation officer, he would not violate any laws, and he would appear in court as required. After indicating Mascall is a high school senior, she requested he be allowed to continue his educational pursuits so he could graduate on time.
Assistant Attorney General Amie Simpson, Criminal Division chief, did not object to releasing Mascall into the custody of his mother. She did, however, request an opportunity to vet her during the hearing. She further requested for Mascall to take online classes if he ultimately gets expelled from school because of his alleged involvement in the assault.
Campen asked that information about the third-party custodian not be made public in open court to help prevent giving individuals an opportunity to take matters into their own hands since a video of Mascall allegedly assaulting the bus driver is circulating on social media. Gallivan said she saw the video in addition to reviewing the probable cause fact sheet. She described seeing a violent, unprovoked attack against a 70-year-old man. Despite his young age, Gallivan said Mascall posed a risk to the community. She denied Campen’s request to release Mascall from custody.
“I don’t find that the conditions satisfy the requirements,” she said.
The Virgin Islands Department of Education, in a statement issued Wednesday expressing grave concern regarding the “unfortunate and unacceptable” incident of violence that occurred on the school bus, condemned the behavior and stressed that the department has a zero-tolerance policy for violence of any kind. VIDE indicated the actions of the students responsible for the assault would result in both police charges and disciplinary measures such as suspension or expulsion.
Education Commissioner Dionne Wells-Hedrington, while speaking this morning on the WTJX radio program “Analyze This with Neville James,” said she watched the video of the attack. She said she had never seen anything like it during her 31-year career.
“It was heart-wrenching for me to look at the video,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do with our students. Their behaviors are becoming excessively more abusive this year than I’ve ever seen before.”
Wells-Hedrington said King was not assigned to the bus route, noting that he was filling in for another driver. She also discussed an incident on a school bus heading to Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School Tuesday on St. Thomas during which the bus driver kicked a student off the bus for allegedly using obscene language. She said removal of students from the bus goes against protocol that requires bus drivers to transport misbehaving students to school to file a report, so VIDE is working with the bus company.
The commissioner pointed out that the Department of Education must go through due process before disciplining students, stressing the department’s zero-tolerance policy. She noted that riding the school bus is a privilege, not a requirement.
“If it means that we have to suspend children off the bus and it becomes the parents’ responsibility to get them to school, that’s what we’re going to do because the safety of the masses is what’s important, and no child will be allowed to disrespect any adult or disrespect by jumping students and all the foolishness that we see happening and it being swept under the rug,” she said.
The Department of Education, Virgin Islands Police Department, and Senator Donna Frett-Gregory all issued statements following the attack against the bus driver, stressing the importance of parental involvement to prevent their children from engaging in bad behavior.
VIDE urged parents to speak with their children about proper behavior and respect when using school transportation, noting that verbal obscenities and aggressive conduct have become more frequent.
St. Croix Police Chief Sean Santos pleaded to parents to pay attention to their children to ensure there are no more violent acts, adding that the public transportation system is there for the safety of students while ensuring they get to and from school.
“We have been a community who always respected our elders, and we need to bring that back,” Santos said in a statement. “I hope these young men learned their lesson as to their actions, and hopefully we can find a resolution in finding help for them.”
Frett-Gregory, in a statement expressing deep concern with acts of violence in schools shown on videos shared via social media, said videos of students fighting schoolmates and adults working within the education system are increasingly disturbing. In addition to calling on the Department of Education to get to the root cause of it, the senator pointed out that reducing violence in schools begins at home.
“Parents can teach their children nonviolence by setting an example on acceptable behavior, demonstrating non-violent conflict resolution, and communicating with their children,” Frett-Gregory, a former VIDE commissioner who serves as vice chair of the Committee on Education and Workforce Development, said in a statement. “In addition, and perhaps most important, parents can spend additional time with their children and become more involved with their school and extracurricular activities.”
As a result of the assault on the bus driver, the Department of Education announced on Wednesday that the damaged bus would be suspended from operation pending the outcome of an ongoing investigation. The department noted it was working closely with Abramson Enterprises Inc., the contracted bus vendor, to assess the situation. VIDE subsequently announced this morning the suspension of all school bus transportation today on St. Croix.
Wells-Hedrington told James during this morning’s radio program on 93.1 FM that the bus drivers on St. Croix took a stance following Wednesday’s assault against King and went on strike today.
Angela Erysthee, school bus manager for Abramson Enterprises, said the bus drivers felt badly about what happened to King.
“They took the job action in support of their comrade, the bus driver who was jumped yesterday and injured by a group of students,” she said, adding that the bus drivers are scheduled to return to work Monday.
While Mascall was arrested and appeared in Superior Court for his advice of rights hearing today, the two minors accused of assaulting the bus driver were turned over to the Juvenile Investigation Bureau, according to a VIPD news release. Both minors were arrested, booked, and released to their parents pending juvenile court.
If convicted of third-degree assault, Mascall faces up to five years in prison or a fine between $500 to $3,000, or both. The penalty for damaging or tampering with a vehicle is up to one year in prison or a fine up to $250, or both. The penalty for disturbance of the peace is up to 90 days in prison or a fine up to $100, or both.
