Caught On Camera: Teens Harass Metro Passengers

A group of teenage girls harass people on the Metro and one gets physical. It took Metro Police 30 minutes to get there. One of the victims is Elizabeth Jia, a multimedia journalist at 9 NEWS NOW. Jia was on her way to Union Station when she says five teenage girls got on. Jia used her cell phone to record video of the girls harassing a female Metro rider.”They started laughing seeing that the girl physically removed herself,” Jia said.

When the teenager sitting next to Jia saw her phone– Jia says she took it. “She put her finger up on my face,” Jia said pointing to her forehead. “She took my phone and she threw it across to the other side of the Metro train and it shattered.”

Jia says she got off at the next stop, told the manager, and requested a Metro Police Officer come to take her statement. “We waited and no one came,” Jia said. Jia says she waited there 25 minutes.Leslie Campbell, Metro Transit Police, said an officer did come.”The officer arrived approximately 30 minutes after he was dispatched,” Campbell said. “She was no longer in danger, and she was not injured, and the threat had gone.”

Other Metro riders said harassment and fights are common. Campbell said crime has decreased in the Metro overall. “We have had occasions where there has been harassment and unfortunately, it’s an ongoing thing,” he said. Jia is working with Metro to follow up on the incident. Campbell suggests that riders ask for an officer’s estimated arrival time. He said when an officer shows up depends on where he or she is in the Metro system.

Source: WUSA TV-9