The woman who was dragged by a MARTA bus Sunday after she got her arm caught in the door was a regular who often caused a commotion, according to police.
Lettie Robinson has said she forgot her purse on bus 51 and that, when she lunged back in to get it, the driver shut the door on her and accelerated away. Police say Robinson, 62, was bruised and bloodied by the incident. They say her left arm was caught in the door and she was dragged 63 feet before another driver who had witnessed the incident cut in front of the bus to stop it.
Bus driver Belinda McMillian then drove away again, swerving around Robinson, police say.
McMillian, 52, told Atlanta police after her arrest that Robinson was not a passenger on the bus. The driver said Robinson had been kicked off the bus by a MARTA policeman for refusing to take her seat before it left the West Lake station, according to an Atlanta Police Department incident report obtained by the AJC Tuesday.
But the MARTA officer, identified in the report only as "T. Maddox," gave Atlanta police a different story. He said he boarded the bus at the West Lake station to quiet Robinson and that, after five minutes, she settled down and the bus departed with her on board.
"Maddox said that the victim rides the same bus every night and almost always speaks loudly and refuses to take her seat for a few minutes and then takes her seat," the police report said.
Although McMillian told police that Robinson was not a passenger on her bus, she also told officers that she watched Robinson exit the bus with the help of a walker.
McMillian, of Smyrna, was released Monday from the Fulton County Jail on a $1,000 bond. She could not be reached Tuesday to explain that apparent discrepancy in her police account.
According to the report, McMillian told officers that Robinson exited with the help of a walker, then ran alongside the bus as it pulled away. The driver said she did not see Robinson fall.
When the bus stopped and McMillian opened the door, Robinson fell to the ground, possibly hitting her head on the bus, according to the police report. The report says Robinson broke her left arm during the ordeal.
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