A Pennsylvania woman has been charged after allegedly attacking a school bus driver because the driver was five minutes late to pick up her daughter, authorities say.
Tanelle Day, 31, faces charges including aggravated assault, disorderly conduct, and unauthorized entry onto a school bus, according to court records obtained by Law&Crime. The incident took place on January 15.
The bus driver, Shayla Harris, was on her Propel Braddock Hills route during a snowy morning when the confrontation occurred, Pittsburgh NBC affiliate WPXI reported. As the bus stopped at East Hills Drive and Wilner Drive, Day reportedly pulled open the doors, spilled her coffee, and began assaulting Harris.
Surveillance footage obtained by WPXI shows Day confronting the driver, striking her multiple times while grabbing her hair as Harris tried to defend herself.
“It’s the everyday life of a bus driver,” Harris told the station. “Parents are just crazy.”
Harris said Day explained her actions by claiming her child had been left outside in the cold. As the attack unfolded, Harris struggled to pull the bus brake to prevent driving off while being assaulted.
“What was going through my mind was to secure the bus so we didn’t drive into anything… to get her off the bus,” Harris said. “Everybody could have been seriously injured that day because I was five minutes late. It was very traumatizing. Most parents I’ve spoken with were very upset that this happened.”
The video also shows a small figure wearing a pink backpack—believed to be Day’s daughter—present during the attack, suggesting she witnessed the assault. Other children were reportedly on the bus, including Harris’ son, who woke up from a nap, jumped on Day’s back, and, with help from two adults, helped remove her from the bus.
Harris was treated for a concussion at a nearby hospital and took a week to recover. She has since been reassigned to a different bus route. Court records do not list Day’s arrest date, though a criminal complaint was filed Monday.
Propel Braddock Hills is part of the Propel Schools network, which describes itself as “a not-for-profit federation of charter schools dedicated to the mission of catalyzing the transformation of public education so that all children have access to high-performing public schools.”
Law&Crime contacted Pittsburgh Public Schools for additional comment on the investigation.