A Washington D.C. woman who allegedly didn’t pay a bus fare was violently arrested Tuesday, Feb. 5. and her injuries are gruesome.
Diamond Rust, a young mother of two, was catching a bus when she boarded without paying a fee in the fare box, WUSA9 reported. Her one-year-old son and two-year-old daughter accompanied her when an undercover officer told Rust to get off the bus.
“I’m pacing back and forth like ‘can you hurry up?’” Rust, who got off the bus, tells the news station. “He said he felt threatened with me pacing back and forth.”
Admittedly, Rust said she did not stop pacing at the officer’s request. According to the police report, the 20-year-old continued to pace and kept putting her hands in her pocket.
What followed was a brutal arrest for fare evasion and resisting arrest.
“He said I was resisting,” Rust says. “He pushed me to the fence.”
When Rust continued to run away, police said an officer slammed her to the ground to complete the arrest.
The impact fractured Rust’s knee, burst her face open and broke four of her teeth.
“My son he don’t even like looking at me now,” she says. “My daughter keeps saying, ‘The police did this to mommy.'”
The Ballou STAY High School student, who said she cries “all of the time,” has a DC One Card, which allows her to take the bus for free. However, she did not have the card on her Tuesday. But she had cash and two smart trip cards on her the day of the arrest.
Asked if she would do anything differently, Rust said “No. because this is just the person I am.”
Rust was taken to the hospital following the assault and she plans to file a complaint with Metro.
Atlanta Black Star has reached out to Metro Transit Police for a comment on the matter.
