Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story contained the description of an alleged attack upon a MARTA passenger that has since been retracted by the passenger.
MARTA officials on Friday defended the transit authority's safety record, calling last Sunday's assault of two Delta flight attendants an "isolated incident."
"Our crime statistics over the last several years have been decreasing, especially for the most serious types of crimes," MARTA spokesman Lyle Harris said, adding the stats are regularly updated and available for viewing on the transit authority's website.
Harris said MARTA police have identified "persons of interest" involved in last Sunday's attack but declined to answer specific questions about the investigation. According to witnesses, roughly two dozen teens, chanting an acronym shared by a well-known Atlanta gang, boarded a rail car at the Garnett station, assaulting the two Delta employees and stealing one of the men's wallets. While neither of the victims were seriously injured, passengers described a chaotic scene that left them terrified.
While crime may be down, the incidents that have been reported led many passengers to question MARTA safety. A 14-year-old was among two victims killed in separate incidents this January at the Five Points station. Another teen was shot to death in March 2010 at the East Point station while resisting an attempt to steal his cellphone.
Despite drastic cuts in bus and train service, MARTA said the police budget has remained intact.
"That demonstrates that MARTA has not, and will not compromise the safety and security of its system or its customers," Harris said.
He also disputed media accounts of last Sunday's incident. Channel 2 Action News, quoting an anonymous passenger, reported doors on the rail car wouldn't open when the train stopped at West End, trapping passengers seeking to escape the horde of teens. The suspects exited at the Oakland City station.
Harris said the doors were functioning normally, adding there were no "visible blood stains" in the rail car, as a passenger claimed.
"This person ... has so far refused to provide a statement about what happened to the MARTA Police Department," he said. "In the interest of justice, we encourage this person to come forward."
Harris said singling out MARTA as "unsafe" is "irresponsible and patently untrue." But that's not stopping the chairman of the state Legislature’s MARTA oversight committee, Mike Jacobs, R-Atlanta, from holding a hearing May 3rd on rider safety within the transit system.
"Anecdotally, it wasn't too, too long ago that you could ride a MARTA train and you were almost certain to see an officer walking back and forth, from the front of the train to the back, and then back again," Jacobs told WABE-FM 90.1. "These days, you’re much less likely to see officers on trains – although to be sure they can be found around the MARTA system."
Harris said crime is an unfortunate reality for people living in a major urban area such as Atlanta.
"MARTA has always taken extraordinary steps to make sure our customers are safe, and will continue to do so," Harris said. "But MARTA is a part of a larger metropolitan region where crime occurs more frequently that any of us like, or would like to admit."
The AJC will have additional coverage in Saturday's print edition and online at ajc.com.
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