Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Bus Driver Charged After Striking, Injuring 15-Year-Old Girl
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 14, 2015
Modified Feb 14, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Tipster
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Feb 14, 2015
Modified Feb 14, 2015
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
A 58-year-old bus driver was arrested yesterday after he struck a 15-year-old girl who was crossing Grand Street in Williamsburg, seriously injuring her and potentially costing her her leg. Now, of course, the transport workers’ union is protesting his arrest, calling it "absolutely outrageous."
According to the NYPD, Francisco DeJesus was charged with failure to yield after striking Jiahuan Xu while she was on her way to school. Xu's left leg was pinned under the bus's wheel, and her family says it will potentially be amputated. "She grabbed my hand and said, ‘Dad, I feel pieces of my ripped up leg,'" her father, Jingxiang Xu, told CBS 2.
DeJesus, who stayed at the scene and was treated for trauma at a nearby hospital, was charged with failure to yield and failure to exercise due care. Though these charges were once mere traffic violations, the city's new administrative code 19-190 makes them misdemeanor crimes, in an effort to amp up penalties against drivers who kill or injure pedestrians who have the right of way.
Still, the transport worker's union says bus drivers should not be charged in these kinds of incidents. "They navigate incredibly difficult streets loaded with pedestrians, and they do this without any enforcement on the pedestrian end of things,” John Samuelsen, the union's president, told the Times. “To arrest an operator for an unintentional accident is really just absolutely outrageous, illogical and anti-worker."
A bus driver was previously charged under the new code for killing a pedestrian in East Flatbush last year. His arrest sparked so much outrage, Brooklyn bus drivers briefly refused to leave their depots.
Tagged
bus driver
MTA
pedestrian struck
williamsburg
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Early Addition: There's finally stuff inside the Times Square tower where the ball drops
Because it used to sit vacant for most of the year, here are your early links: Rangers goalie scored, "It's a Wonderful Life" coming to Broadway, there's dignity in scaffolding and more.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 2, 2026 at 9:20 a.m. ET
NYC subway dragging death highlights an old school MTA failsafe
The man dragged to death by a subway train in Brooklyn earlier this week put riders across the city on edge.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
News
NYC subway dragging death highlights an old school MTA failsafe
The man dragged to death by a subway train in Brooklyn earlier this week put riders across the city on edge.
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
We were the victim': Brooklyn shelter's new CEO speaks after corruption scandal
By
Ryan Kost
Badly burned body found in a trashed and abandoned Jamaica Queens lot, NYPD says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Brooklyn DA brings back warrant-clearing event as quality-of-life tickets surge
By
Ben Feuerherd
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .