Alex Escobedo, 17, said he no longer rides the bus after being punched in the face and suffering a concussion while on his way back to school from his internship.
On July 28, Escobedo’s Teens Grow Greens internship program was touring the city to learn more about Milwaukee’s history. As the excursion wrapped up, his group boarded the number 18 Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) bus.
Several moments into the bus ride, Escobedo said someone punched him in the face. The attack happened at the intersection of South 14th Street and West National Avenue, according to a police report obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel through an open records request.
“He ended up punching me so hard, the screw on my eyebrow (ring) fell off, and I had to get a longer extender for my lip piercing because of how swollen my lip was,” Escobedo said.
“I was just so mad.”
The Milwaukee Police Department has not yet identified any suspects in the case. The bus driver gave a statement to the police claiming the attacker rode the bus regularly, but no progress on the investigation has been reported, according to Gina Dandrow, Escobedo’s mother.
The offense was listed as “child abuse — intentionally causing harm,” according to the police report.
MPD did not respond to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s requests for comment.
One month after the attack, despite claims of recent expansions to MCTS’ security programs and several conversations with school, city and county officials, Escobedo and his mother, Dandrow, said they have been unable to find an adequate solution that would get him to and from school safely without the fear of being attacked again.
A routine bus ride turns violent
Escobedo was sitting on the same bus route he takes each day during the school year to get to and from school. He said he was minding his own business and scrolling on his phone when he felt something hit his face hard and “everything went black,” he said.
It took him a moment to realize what had happened. After getting his bearings, Escobedo noticed a man who was wearing a red shirt, who he said punched him on the side of the face.
That’s when the man started to yell and curse, Escobedo said.
The other interns on the bus looked at Escobedo, confused and concerned as he and the man were yelling at one another, he said.
Escobedo said he looked at his fellow interns and shouted, “He hit me! He hit me!”
The interns started to intervene, and then the internship coordinators began to calm the group down to prevent them from engaging with the alleged attacker. At this point, Escobedo frantically called his mother, he said.
The attack occurred on Milwaukee’s south side, near South 14th Street and West National Avenue, and a few minutes after, the attacker fled through the bus’s back doors at the 16th Street stop under pressure from the other interns, Escobedo said.
Escobedo and the group of students got off the bus on South 28th Street and West National Avenue in Silver City, where they were met by the police, MCTS security officers, and Escobedo’s mother, Dandrow.
“The first thing I did was just run up to him and hug him,” Dandrow said. “He was crying and still pretty shaken up.”
Escobedo’s fellow interns were similarly shaken. Aniyah Gehrt, who was another intern on the bus during the attack, said she is now extra cautious when taking public transportation.
“It’s a little nerve-racking,” Gehrt said. “I don’t know what might happen; anybody can do anything, but it’s my only way of transportation right now.”
An uphill battle: searching for solutions after bus attack
Dandrow, who lives in Harambee with Escobedo, said she worried that not enough would be done to find the man who attacked her son, and that his experience would go by the wayside like other cases she’d heard about.
In the weeks after the incident, Dandrow coordinated with the police and collected any information she could, she said.
“I guess as a parent, the frustrating part is my son is a victim of an assault, and nobody can help with anything,” Dandrow said.
Dandrow contacted her son’s internship program, Teens Grow Greens, and his school, El Puente High School, to determine the likelihood of a resolution, and if there are any alternative transportation options the family could explore, she said.
El Puente High School officials declined to comment to the Journal Sentinel because none of their teachers were present, and the attack happened outside of the official school year.
Dandrow and Escobedo said they feel the Teens Grow Greens program did an adequate job of following up with them after the incident. However, Escobedo said he remembers it was the students who first spoke against the man’s actions on the bus after he was punched, not the instructors.
“Staff members who were on the scene responded promptly to de-escalate the situation and maintain the immediate safety of all young people with the program as well as other patrons on the bus,” said Charles Uihlein, executive director of Teens Grow Greens, in a statement.
Dandrow continued to seek support by reaching out to her elected representatives, Ald. Milele Coggs and County Supervisor Pricilla Coggs-Jones, but she said not much came of it.
Coggs-Jones said in a statement to the Journal Sentinel that there are no new ordinances in front of the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors relating to bus safety, but discussions between officials about security are ongoing.
Ald. Coggs, another representative in Dandrow’s district, sent the same statement as Coggs-Jones’ office.
The offices said in the statement that rider safety, especially for children, is an important concern.
“It’s essential for transit authorities and local governments to continuously evaluate safety protocols, increase visible presence on routes commonly used by students, and enhance surveillance and reporting systems,” said County Supervisor Coggs-Jones in the statement.
Current rules for MCTS buses include clauses against harassment, assault and disorderly conduct, according to Coggs-Jones’ office.
The elected officials said there are several ways to keep children safe on the bus, including reporting unsafe behavior to the MCTS safety teams or the police, traveling in groups and familiarizing children with routes they regularly take. If children riding the bus feel unsafe, the representatives encourage parents to have them sit near the driver, according to the statement from Coggs and Coggs-Jones.
Despite all the phone calls, Dandrow said she is still searching for a solution for her son.
“So many times people get hurt and everything gets pushed under the rug. Nothing happens,” she said. “I just knew right away that this was going to be our own uphill battle.”
Current safety protocols on MCTS buses
In 2024, more than $3.7 million was invested in MCTS security, according to a spokesperson with the agency. The MCTS security team consists of 21 unarmed security officers with law enforcement, military or security backgrounds, five of whom were added in July. The agency also contracts security officers from the private security firm, Allied Universal.
The officers are assigned to different coverage areas around the city, and they float between different routes in their coverage areas based on where they are needed, according to MCTS.
Neither Milwaukee police nor MCTS security was on the bus when Escobedo was attacked, but after the group got off the bus, both responded to the scene to take statements and investigate the incident.
The transportation agency said it uses data to determine what routes have the highest need for officers based on the number of riders and the types of incidents that occur in the communities the buses pass through.
MCTS claims leading up to the incident with Escobedo, there had not been a reported attack on Route 18 in the last two years.
“MCTS is providing the highest level of security possible with the resources we have available,” reads a statement from the agency.
However, the Amalgamated Transit Union #998’s vice president, Michael Brown, said he identifies Route 18 as a problem route based on his conversations with drivers who work that bus line.
While officers are not currently dedicated to specific routes, the union is advocating for a portion of the officers to be stationed on MCTS buses on a rotating basis, according to Brown. If the union is successful, this will be added to the impending union contract. The security officers would not be officially part of the union.
“We need a bus riding team,” Brown said. “That’s the only way to curb some of the security stuff that’s going on.”
Bus drivers are trained in de-escalation and want to make riders feel safe, according to Brown. However, if a child sits near a driver and an incident occurs, the driver is not required to intervene.
When Dandrow reached out to MCTS to determine if a permanent security officer could be added to Route 18, she said she was told it would not be possible “due to budget cuts.”
In late June, MCTS revealed the agency was expected to have a nearly $11 million deficit by the end of the year. To address the deficit, MCTS said it planned to implement a corrective action plan that would include service changes and reductions to bus routes.
Coordinating daily rides to school becomes a challenge
Escobedo now relies on family members to get to and from school safely, but once his sister starts school in the fall, it will be harder for Dandrow to provide transportation for both children.
“I really wish I could afford to have him take Uber to school every day, but unfortunately, I’m not in that type of position,” Dandrow said.
Escobedo’s sister goes to a Milwaukee Public School and can take a school bus, but Dandrow said the ordeal has left her wary and concerned for the safety of both kids.
“So, it’s like, while protecting one kid, how am I going to keep the other one safe,” Dandrow said.
The attack happened in what felt like an instant, but the family continues to face the repercussions of that moment today, according to Dandrow.
“Unless there is someone with me or some type of security I am not going to go back on a bus,” Escobedo said.
If anyone is involved in or sees an incident of concern on an MCTS bus, they can call customer service at (414) 937-3218 or the toll-free number at (888) 937-2321.
Incidents can also be reported on the MCTS app. If it is an emergency, city officials recommend calling 911.
Alyssa N. Salcedo and Everett Eaton cover Layton Boulevard West and Harambee, respectively, for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Reach them at asalcedo@gannett.com and ejeaton@gannett.com. All of their work and coverage decisions are overseen solely by Journal Sentinel editors.
Support comes from the Zilber Family Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Journal Foundation, Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Greater Milwaukee Foundation and individual contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project.
The project is administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36‐4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust. Support this reporting with a tax-deductible gift at jsonline.com/support, or address a check to Local Media Foundation with “JS Community Journalism” in the memo and mail to: Local Media Foundation, P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: After bus assault, Harambee teen and mother seek safer transit options
Reporting by Alyssa N. Salcedo and Everett Eaton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
