44-year-old Burnis Hurd escorted his 9-year-old autistic son onto a school bus Friday morning in the Bay Area suburb of Richmond, California. He then proceeded to beat up an 11-year-old boy on the bus who had allegedly been bullying his son.
Once they boarded the bus, Hurd’s son pointed out an 11-year-old boy he claimed had been bullying him. Richmond Police Lt. Mark Gagan told CBS San Francisco, CBS San Francisco “The father grabbed the 11-year-old by the hair, pulled hard and raised the child out of his seat, then shoved him on the side of the bus where the window meets the wall.”
Police say that Hurd also threatened to kill the 11-year-old boy, and threatened some other children on the bus. The 11-year-old suffered cuts to his earlobe and cheek.
Hurd was jailed, with a bail set at $50,000. The Digital Journal reports that he was drunk when the incident occurred. He claimed that he was just tired of his son being bullied, and he thought that the right solution was to confront the child responsible for the bullying.
CBS San Francisco reports that in an interview with KPIX 5 Friday, Shanika Moses, the aunt and guardian of the boy who was attacked, said, “I want (Burnis) to be prosecuted to the fullest.”
Hurd was charged with abuse of a child and intent to cause bodily harm to a minor.