A 50-year-old man was arrested after he was accused of entering a Marion County school bus and striking an aide who had issued his child a referral.
On Tuesday, May 2, a Marion County Sheriff’s Office deputy began investigating the physical altercation that had occurred on a Marion County school bus at the bus stop located at Bahia Road and Water Road in Ocala.
The deputy made contact with the male victim at Lake Weir Middle School located at 10220 SE Sunset Harbor Road in Summerfield. The victim advised that he had written school referrals for two of the juvenile students riding on his school bus earlier that day, and those students had been suspended from riding the bus, according to the arrest report.
Prior to the incident, the victim advised that he was on the school bus to assist with taking the children to their designated bus stop. When the bus stopped at the intersection of Bahia Road and Water Road, the victim stated that he released all of the students for that stop. Moments later, Esdras Burges-Cruz approached the open door to the bus.
According to the victim’s statement in the report, Burges-Cruz was “unhappy with his son being suspended from the bus.” The bus driver informed Burges-Cruz that he was not allowed on the bus, and he allegedly responded by telling the bus driver to “shut the (expletive) up.”
The victim advised that Burges-Cruz then walked onto the bus to confront him. Once on the bus, the victim stated that Burges-Cruz began yelling at him while “waving around” a copy of the school referral, and he handed the paperwork to the victim. During the incident, Burges-Cruz allegedly snatched the referral back from the victim in an “angry” manner, which resulted in him striking the victim’s chest, according to the MCSO report.
After the physical contact, the victim stated that Burges-Cruz made several conditional threats that the victim “would see what’s going to happen” if anything else happened to his son. Burges-Cruz then proceeded to exit the bus.
The deputy interviewed the bus driver who corroborated the victim’s statement, though the bus driver did not observe Burges-Cruz striking the victim.
The deputy responded to Burges-Cruz’s residence in the 400 block of Spring Road and made contact with him. After being read his Miranda rights, Burges-Cruz denied being told that he was not allowed on the bus, and he also denied touching the victim, according to the MCSO report.
On Wednesday, May 3, another deputy and a corporal were working at Lake Weir Middle School as the school resource officers when they became aware of the incident involving Burges-Cruz. A student had recorded a cellphone video of the incident and the footage was reviewed, which showed Burges-Cruz confronting the victim.
The corporal noted in the report that the video showed Burges-Cruz “taking an aggressive stance” towards the victim. The victim was observed holding a piece of paper and Burges-Cruz was “within a foot” of the victim while aggressively pointing his finger at the victim.
On the video, Burges-Cruz was overheard repeatedly stating, “This is the last time,” and he then snatched the paper from the victim. At the same time, Burges-Cruz was observed slapping the victim’s chest and grabbing the lanyard around his neck. After making several conditional threats, Burges-Cruz exited the bus, according to the MCSO report.
The corporal noted in the report that multiple students were on the bus when the incident occurred, and the incident further caused a delay in the bus continuing on its route.
Burges-Cruz was located, arrested, and transported to Marion County Jail where he was later released on $17,500 bond. He is facing felony charges for battery on a public or private education employee and unarmed burglary of an occupied conveyance, along with a misdemeanor charge for disturbing a school function.
A court date has not been scheduled yet, according to jail records.