December 22, 2025 • 36 mins
According to a recent Boston Globe article, Boston Public Schools had been warned as early as 2021 by their commercial transportation insurer to improve bus driver training and safety measures. In March of 2025, National Interstate decided against renewing the district’s coverage due to an increasing number of accidents. Less than two months later, the unthinkable happened…5-year-old Lens Joseph was struck and killed by a BPS school bus.
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on w b Z,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Or right, Thank you very miss Dan Watkins. As we
move into Christmas week, I have been following a story
and I've asked all of you to take an interest
in the story as well. There was a little boy
five years old. I don't know him, I don't know
what anyone in his family. His name was Lenz Joseph,
(00:31):
and he was killed on April twenty eighth of this year.
So he, like other five year olds and six year olds,
should be going to sleep every night this week in
anticipation of Santa Claus. Unfortunately, Lenz Joseph lost his life
on April twenty eighth, and I think most of you
(00:52):
know the story. He was on a school bus, a
Boston City of Boston school bus, and he was lived
with his family in Hyde Park and the bus driver
that day had a rough day in many respects. Apparently
his certificate to drive a bus had expired and had
(01:16):
not been renewed. And earlier that afternoon, on the way
home from his school, the bus driver sideswiped a parked car,
never stopped, never reported the accident, as if it didn't happen.
And then he apparently gets somehow turned around and the
(01:39):
way his bus route was laid out, he was supposed
to drop five year old Lens Joseph and his eleven
year old cousin off in front of their house, but
he ended up on the other side of the intersection,
and instead of taking his time, for whatever reason, he
(02:01):
decided to drop Lens and his cousin on the other
side of an intersection, but Lens never got to the
intersection within five seconds or less. According to studies that
the Boston Globe have conducted, they of course had to
(02:23):
file all sorts of freedom of information material and the
lead reporter on the story is a reporter named John
Hilliard who has done just a terrific job on this
story and has broken story information all along. As the
little boy and his sister, his eleven year old cousin
(02:44):
excuse me, got off the bus, they walked in front
of the bus and the bus the driver apparently was
distracted and he took off or rolled forward and killed
five year old Lens. Show The family now has a
lawsuit civil lawsuit, but they no longer have this little
(03:08):
precious five year old boy as a member of their
family and again he was killed by the very bus
that was driving him home. I just am just stunned
by the story. Now, we have talked before about the
(03:29):
fact that the District Attorney of Saffolk County has brought
no criminal charge against anyone in the death of this boy,
this little this young young boy. The district Attorney in
Safa County is Kevin Hayden, and my producer today invited
(03:49):
the district attorney to join us and talk about what
progress is being made in this case. You know, Frank
Sinatra had a big song for fifty years ago. Basically
the line was a long way from May to December
and talked to it was really it was a metaphor
(04:10):
for someone's life that it's a long time, but eventually
September comes and the days dwindle down and you get
to December and that's when the person's life in this
metaphor of the song would end. It's been a long
(04:33):
time from April to December, and we can call it
the first of May because it was the first week
of May, April twenty eighth. So the response from the
district attorney today was to our producer, Karen Bussemi Hi,
Karen This is from his spokesperson, one of these people
(04:54):
who were paid money to basically prevent them from being
available to the public. Our policy is not to discuss
aspects of active death investigations beyond confirming their status. But
thank you for the invite. So you know that's a
district attorney that's not interested in talking to me, not
(05:14):
interested in talking to the residents of Suffolk County, the
voters of Suffer County. And I think you should remember
that the next time that he stands for reelection, because
this is a case, why would they not be some
criminal action taking here? Even if you want to amend
a criminal complaint, that can be done by any first
(05:37):
year assistant district attorney. Well, anyway, the story in The
Globe today by James Hilliard discloses for the first time
to my knowledge, that the company that had ensured the
Boston Bus Company, they basically was ensuring the buses for
(06:05):
the city of Boston, National Interstate. On March fourth of
this year, citing the increased frequency of liability losses, decided
that they would not renew the policy on June thirtieth. Now,
National Interstate was the insurance company at the time of
(06:27):
Lens Joseph's death, but apparently over time the number of
claims that accidents was an astonishing number. Okay, we'll get
to that in a moment. They had about I guess
(06:49):
seven hundred and seventy claims between June of twenty three.
June of twenty twenty three and January of twenty twenty
five would have been last January, and that's only a
period of about eighteen months. So there were about forty
two bus accident claims involving buses on average per month.
(07:15):
And of course the buses are much less prevalent on
roadways during June, July and August when school is out
of session. Are there some school buses out there? Yeah,
So this company, Transdev was basically instructed. It's a French company,
(07:36):
US headquarters in Illinois, and they transport about twenty one
thousand students per day. It's not a big number of
students compared to what used to have in Boston. Boston
was put unnotice according to John Hilliot's Peace in the
Globe Today as early as twenty twenty one, that more
needed to be done to improve driver training and safety.
According to annual inspection reports conducted by National Interstate obtained
(08:00):
by the Globe in December in response to a records request.
So the Globe went and got these records. Now Interstate
obviously is the insurer, but they also want to make
sure they haven't insured a company that has had a
proliferation of accident claims, because I guess they've paid out
about three three and a half million dollars in claims,
(08:23):
and one of the claims that at this point is
still being litigated is the death of Lenz Joseph. So
the crast that killed Lens remains under investigation by the
Suffolk District Attorney's office at Boston Police. No one has
been charged. No one has been charged in connection with
(08:43):
the crash. It's as if it didn't happen. Oh there's
a five year old it's dead. But that kid's from
you know, Boston. Okay, it's a minority child, he's probably
not the same if this had happened in Weston. Do
you think there would have been no charges seven eight
months later, I somehow think there would have been charges.
I somehow think there would have been charges, And if
(09:05):
you're honest, you would be too. National Interstate declined comment.
They're private company. I get that. In their twenty twenty report,
the insurer urged Boston to more effectively use its camera
system to address unstafed unsafe driving behaviors, and it called
for all drivers who had an accident, incident, injury, traffic citation,
(09:27):
or who were involved in an unsafe act to complete
remedial safety training. In twenty twenty three, the insurer said
Boston needed to improve its accident investigation program by ensuring
drivers would train and equipped to handle the scene of
the accident, and to offer a finishing program for drivers
with less than two years of commercial motor vehicle experience. So,
(09:48):
when this driver had an accident in Mattapan and sideeswaped
the car, his idea to finish the program rather would
train to equip to handle the scene of an act
was the just keep going? Was the just keep going?
In twenty twenty four, the insurer called on Boston to
formalize it's remedial training for drivers involved in accidents, imposed
(10:10):
mandatory more frequent safety training throughout the year, and enhance
processes for reporting, tracking, or managing driver fatigue. This is
all John Hilliard's work in The Boston Globe Today. Ultimately
and we're going to talk more about this. Ultimately, the
insurer National Interstate, dropped the City of Boston. Okay, so
(10:34):
the City of Boston has picked up another insurance company,
as I'm sure they have. I'm sure they're paying more
money to the new insurance company. We did, as you
would expect. We did reach out to the to the
Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Mary Skipper. They wrote back,
(10:57):
good afternoon, Karen, confirming we received inquiry. Unfortunately, the superintendent
is not available to take part in the live segment
this evening. Thank you and happy holidays, best Samara Pinto,
Deputy Press Secretary, Communications Office, Well, I got a feeling
that every time we sent that invitation to Mary Skipper
she wouldn't be able. But she's welcome to come in
(11:19):
any night. On the phone, Mary Skipper, if you're listening
on the phone, you don't even have to leave the
You don't have to drive and leave the safety of
your own house. Okay, same way for you, District Attorney
Hayden on the phone. Where's the investigation? Are there chargers
that are being contemplated? Is there a grand jury that's
(11:39):
investigating I think the public has a right to know
and I think that the taxpayers of Boston have a
right to know, and I think my listeners have a
right to know. If you feel you have a right
to know, or if you care about this, it's a
five year old kid who's dead. Think about it. If
it was your child, or if it was your grandchild,
(12:00):
why does it matter any less? If it's a child
in Boston? Why does it matter any less that this
is a five year old child who lost his life
getting off his school bus. Six one seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
(12:20):
Don't let the powers that be think that you're not
interested in this story. I am interested in it. I'm
going to talk about it until ten o'clock and maybe
we'll pick up on it later on tonight. I have
a guest coming up at ten o'clock, but I hope
that you'll join me. I hope you'll join the chorus
and have the courage to call in and let Kevin
Hayden and let Mary Skipper and all these other people
(12:42):
who are working in the public sector and are hiding,
hiding in plain sight. They won't talk to John Hilliard
from the Globe. They are going to talk to me,
and they're not going to talk to you, but I
think they need to hear it, so shout it from
the rooftops. Do better than that. Dial six one seven,
two thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
(13:05):
You know, someday you may not have talk shows like this.
You never know. And then you'll say, gee, I wish
I had someone I could I could express myself. They
tell you, well, you can vote, oh yeah, for DA
every six years, for mayor every four years, for governor
every four years Nightside, but two hundred and twenty five
(13:25):
nights a year. You can call up and you can
raise topics or you can respond to topics. That's what
we do. I'm back on Nightside with you hopefully after this.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Okay, let's go directly to the phones. Eddie is in
West Roxbury. Eddie, thank you for calling in. You are
next our first up this week on Nightside.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
IK, good evening, Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy
your time off to Leah first of the.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Year, and the Merry Christmas to you as well.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
And I did not read this article in the Globe
today was there any mention of an independent investigator by
the name of Kitwell. She's a very well known Boston attorney,
farmer Cambridge police officer, A very nice lady, very good lawyer. Yep,
she supposedly was hired by the stity to do an
independent investigation.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, there was a an investigation, but I don't know
that the results of that investigation. I'm going to read
from the article for your benefit. In August, an independent
investigation of the Boston Public Schools and trans to have
announced by Mayor Michelle Woo and Superintendent Mary Skipper faulted
the district and its contractor for failing to properly oversee
(14:40):
and manage school bus operations. So they fault the district
and its contractor. So the district is Boston Public Schools
and the contractor is trans deav. But we didn't need
an investigation to know that. What have they done about it?
For failing to properly oversee and management school bus operations.
(15:04):
The bottom line is that the child is still dead.
No one's been charged with anything, and you know it's
it's They had a news conference, they said we're going
to do this, We're going to do What have they done.
I have seen no indication maybe I've missed it, but
no reforms that are put into place at all.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, I think the key point Dan is on the
day and time in question, on the twenty eighth of April.
What condition was the driver in? What rules of the
world did he not obey? It's all about the driver
and the operation of the bus, not about the safety
factors of the school department of the bus company. Well,
(15:45):
I disagree with you question.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, I'll disagree with you because the safety factors and
what training the bus drivers received, how carefully they were.
This guy had had a side swiped a car in
that you know, if you live in West Roxby, you
know the relationship between Mattapan and UK Park. And then
it was just a few minutes later. He never stopped,
(16:08):
never slowed down, never reported the accident as all of
which he was supposed to do. Then he just goes
merrily along his way, gets to the intersection and drops
the child and his eleven year old cousin off across
the street from where they should be. And it wasn't
as if the child was hit in the middle of
the intersection that would have been bad enough. It was
(16:29):
he was run over by his own bus.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Why are they not releasing this information?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I gotta be honest with you, that would be my
first question ed. I mean, it screams of some sort
of let's just sit on it for as long as
we can and everybody will forget about it. And the
problem is the problem is that people do forget about it.
You know, I have some full lines here. You know,
if this was someone's grandchild or someone's child, that'd be
(16:58):
up in arms. But because it's a little black kid,
people aren't a conservative.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
My final comment will be this, and I'll let you
get to your other calls. Okay, this bus company. Has
this bus company contributed to anybody's political campaign in Boston?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I've not done that research. But again, John Hilliard, who's
been the lead reporter of The Globe, and I am
I hesitate to I criticize the Globe more often than
a complimented. But Hillary has done a great job on this.
I don't know that they physically can, but you don't
know if individuals in the company have contributed. You you
would like to think that things are on.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
The up and up, but please, please, I mean I
don't want to be.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Naive, but at the same time, I don't want to
make allegations or implications or insinuations that I can substantiate.
I think the it's it's it's almost as if if
you wake up in the morning and you notice that
they're a that there's snow on the ground, uh, and
you notice that maybe there's some some snow, some foot
(18:00):
prince into snow, you kind of can come to the
conclusion that if when you went to bed last night
it hadn't snowed, that it snowed overnight and someone was
walking around your house, you know, put footprints.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
The bottom line is, but there's an exchange of money
here on probably a political contribution.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I don't know, I can't you know, I can't say that.
I will allow you to to speculate on that, but
I don't want you to mention any names.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
The bottom line is this company has had this contract
for some time. It's an Illinois company which is actually
from France. We can't find a bus company in New
England that could do this job.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Is that what we're supposed to believe?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Number of years ago Ellison was on the school committee.
Remember that case in Boston.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Yes, Verly that was Paul Ellison. Yeah, there have been
cases before, but but again, I can't project that whatever
happened back then on current school committee. And I'm not
going to go there with that, and I don't want
you to either, Okay, But but the bottom line is, Look,
if people aren't interested and they don't want to talk
(19:10):
about this tonight, I know it's a busy night, but
you know, I got open lines. And if every mother
and every father could put themselves in the position of
this family and think what would they do, they'd be
jumping up and down. I mean, it's it's like the
person whose son or daughter is killed in a drunk
driving accident. They then spend the rest of their lives out,
(19:33):
you know, campaigning against drunk driving. The time to campaign
against drunk driving is before your son and daughter is killed.
You know, you got to be involved, and you got
your voice has to be heard. I'm doing this tonight
because I think it's important, maybe.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
My own importance or it is to you, it is
to me.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
It's vitally important. Can you imagine there? Can you imagine
if there was a five year old kid who was
run over by his own bus pick a town Wellesley Winchester, Weston.
Do you think they would go eight months without charges
being filed. I just don't think so, do I. So
what that leads me to believe is somehow the value
(20:13):
of this little boy's life is somehow less than if
he lived in one of the more affluent suburbs. And
I don't buy that. I don't believe that for a second.
And that's why I'm going to talk about it for
at least until ten o'clock and maybe get back to
it later. But I thank you, I thank you calling
(20:33):
in from West Roxbury. I want to hear from people
in every section of Boston right now. But guess what,
you know, there's a lot of people. They're oblivious to this.
They're the same people who are oblivious in the middle
of a supermarket when they had me their carriage blocking
the aisle so you can't proceed down the aisle, and
they're standing there looking at canned vegetables and they think
(20:57):
nothing of the world around them. All their focus is
on what how much a kid peas today while they're
blocking the aisle, people are They're concerned with their own lives.
They don't give a crap that a five year old
kid was run over by a Boston school bus.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Why did the mayor have to go out and hire
an independent atternity investigate this Any experienced Boston police officer
could have investigated this accident. She didn't have to go
and spend the money to get a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I don't worry about the money. I'm worried about I'm
worried about due process, and I'm worried about justice and
whens and justice denied is justice delayed? A lot of
justice has been denying here. It's been denied for eight months.
There is a long, a long time between May and December.
As Frank Sinatra saying, Hey, I appreciate your call and
I really do, uh.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Talk to you soon, Happy New Year, Merry Christmas. We'll
take a break, coming right back. Here's the news a
little bit late. Got Larry and David's in Dennisport. Got Craigan, Ohio,
and thank them. And if you're listening right now and
you don't have the guts to pick up the phone
and just say there's something that smells here, then you know,
wake up and smell the coffee. Six seven two five
(22:05):
thirty six.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
You're on Night Side with Dan ray On w Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Let me go to Larry and Dennisport. Hey, Larry, Welcome.
Speaker 6 (22:19):
Good evening, Dan. So when we talked about this a
few weeks ago, I remember that. Yes, so my son
was used to be in the vehicular homicide unit for
the police department. He coincidentally had transferred out like a
week or two right before this accident happened when I
(22:41):
but when I discussed it with him, he wasn't surprised.
His job was as soon as something like this happens,
he's called in immediately, whether he's working or not, has
to drive in. He's part of the crime scene reconstructive unit,
would gather as much information as he could. I think
you mentioned this standard protocol for CDL licensed the company
(23:04):
supposed to have him drug tested the driver immediately. So yeah,
and then all of that information that my son and
whoever his team he's working with, he turns that into
his superior, who has two separate guys detectives that gather
all this information and do the actual investigating and probably
(23:28):
contact the district attorney. But what he said was when
he was in that units, he was working on some
cases that were a year or two old. That's how
either overwhelming are or that's how intricate the processes. I
don't know. I don't want to defend a criticized.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Oh, I get that. I would only say that everything
that you and I know about this accident, this young
boy got off the bus and according to video that
again John Hilliard from the Globe has uncovered within five
seconds that kid was dead, right, Okay, So that means
(24:06):
as soon as the child got off the bus, the
driver should have been alert and know that he had
dropped the child off on the wrong side of the intersection,
and that the child very likely would go across the
intersection because he probably his grandmothers. I believe both of
his grandmothers were waiting for him across the intersection. They
(24:26):
witnessed what happened.
Speaker 6 (24:29):
Yeah, it's a heart breaking story.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Heartbreaking story.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Well it's also Look, look, I'm not willing to throw
the driver under the bus quite but if this guy
hit another car with that bus and did not report,
did not stop, did not share whatever information, even to
leave a note on the window of a parked car,
(24:54):
but just merrily continued on that guy shouldn't be driving anything.
He shouldn't be driving a car. Are never mind a bus.
He shouldn't be driving a motors he shouldn't be driving
a tricycle.
Speaker 7 (25:07):
I agree, I agree.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Also, thank you for thank you for the perspective. Larry,
Thank you so much. I hope if you you've had
a happy honicas honicas. Is it tonight the last night
or is it all.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
I celebrate Festivus?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
You are with? Okay, well, I want to wish you
a very happy Festivus.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Okay, thanks so.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Much, Larry, talk soon. Thanks buddy, ba. Here we go,
let's keep rolling. He're going to go next to Craig
and Ohio. Craig, thank you for calling in from Ohio.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
How are you all right?
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Uh?
Speaker 7 (25:45):
If you could? I know nothing about this horrific situation
except for here on the radio. Uh are you telling
me the powers to be kind of look at it is? Well,
it's a black kid from the city. You know, we're
not going to pay a whole lot attention to. But
(26:06):
if there's a white kid for more influential neighborhood, they'd
be doing more well, it would.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Appear to me.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Look, let me tell you, Okay, I'm a white kid
from the city. I grew up in the city. I
grew up not far from where Lens Joseph was killed. Okay,
so I know that part of Boston. And the fact
of the matter is Lenses was a black young man
five years five years old. Okay, I guarantee you that
(26:36):
if in some of our better suburbs, whether we're talking
about Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, Weston, Sudbury, these are these are
the cities, the towns outside the periphery of Boston, if
there was a child killed by their own school bus.
I mean, you'd have people out in the streets, you know,
(26:59):
I mean you would. It's as simple as that. And
the only difference that I can see is this was
an urban, uh incident that all of the surrounding you know,
this was you know, there was no factor here that
would say, well the bus driver was a little later,
it was raining, or it was snowing, a blizzard was
(27:22):
going on. This was a beautiful late April day. I mean,
that child got off, the child got off the bus,
crossed obviously in front of the bus and was run over.
Speaker 7 (27:39):
Unbelievable, you know, I you know, I just can't imagine,
you know, for everybody in that family. When he said
the grandmas were across the street. Oh my lord, yep, yep,
I believe that.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
And he was with his eleven year old cousin, a
little girl, a little eleven year old girl. She witnessed everything.
Speaker 7 (28:01):
I think something thatter go ahead of the line here
like this case.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
You know, it's just you know, justace delayed. Is justice denied.
I don't think that the driver was charged. Well, I
know the drive. No one's be charged with anything, Craig.
I know that you had nothing to do with this accident.
So the fact that you're not charged, I know I
had nothing to do with this accident. But I know
that the guy that was driving the bus in this videotape,
(28:27):
which according to the Globe, shows that he was not paying.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Attention all right now, again that's an.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Observation from the boss to Globe reporter. But something happened here.
That child stepped off the bus. Within five to seven seconds,
he was dead.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
I'm real, thanks, Craig.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I'm so delighted that one of my regular callers from
Ohio would have the guts to call in and raise
the obvious questions. And I mean that seriously. It shows
to me that you're a pretty good human being. Okay,
I mean that's bank you. Thank you. Craig. Right back
at you, quick break, coming right back on night Side.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
You're on Night Side with Dan ray one, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Okay, all of a sudden, the phones have lit up here,
which is fine with me. We're gonna try to get
everybody in. We'll see what we can do. We have
a guest at ten. We may come back to this later.
John and Boston next on Nightside.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
John, go right ahead, thanks d Dan.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I'm just looking at the report that was done by
all State a couple of months ago. Boston is the
riskiest city in the country to drive. And then Springfield's
number four and scersely, what's the number four? Springfield's number five,
So these cities are very dangerous. Go to the Red Tree,
don and Braintree. They've given all licenses. Every time I've
been here six highs a past month. Every time I
(29:49):
go there, I smell plot. So there there is a
lack of days attitude here in massive, especially Boston. You
get bike lanes and you got these buses. Now one
insurance companies don't want to ensure the company. They have
to go to France to get a company This is
a dangerous ay, bosses, the number one city, the riskiest
city in the whole country. Dad, And I'll tell you,
(30:09):
I don't know why this five year old boys did?
I believe the legal profession.
Speaker 7 (30:13):
I know you're a lawyer.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Why isn't the legal profession doing something about this? There's
a problem in Seattle. A woman was hit on the
on the head and he's now blind in one eye
because the legal profess to DA except letting this guy out. Now,
we have a problem near Boston. They're not going after
this the driver. They're not, by the way, let.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Me just read. Let me read one sentence to you, okay.
From the Globe piece today by John Hilliard. Unreleased bus
surveillance video from the crash, viewed by the Globe, which
I've looked at as well, appeared to show the driver
didn't have his eyes on the road when the bus
rolled forward instruct lens. That says it all to me.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And why isn't the DA and why is the legal profession?
Why is it the beer of Boston? Why is the
governor going after in person? Going at this young boy's dead?
They don't give a damn Dan, Because the young boys
said it's Christmas time, and the mayor of Boston, I'm sorry,
in the gov they don't care because they're dragging their
feet on this. This is legal craft, Dan, They're dragging
(31:22):
his feet. You know it is, and I know it is.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Well, that's why I'm talking about it, John, And that's
why I'm glad you took the time to call in
tonight on it, because you're you're someone in Boston, and yeah,
I mean, where are our leaders? Where is the transparency
that we have been promised on an accident that took
this child's life? May June, July, August, September, October, November,
(31:47):
now most of December. That's eight months.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Dan. You saw the bikes and the scooters going up
on the highway, hundreds of them, just a few months
ago on August. It's been going on yet. There is
a lawless atmosphere here in Boston and then Massachusetts, and
there's blue Just like John.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I got you, I got you in here, but I
got to get a couple more in before I break.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
Okay, thanks you stoking up for the young boy.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Did I'm with you? That's I'm so glad you. I
just wish you had called earlier. That's all, but thank
you for calling. Thanks John, Merry Christmas, Vicky and North Carolina. Vicky,
go right ahead.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
I'm going to be real brief. I've listened to your
show before. This is the first time I cried. I'm sorry,
I'm mom, and your grandma.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I'm ready to I'm ready to cry about it as well.
When I think about this kid, I.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Think this is nationwide what we're talking about. If you
notice how people fight for animals, which I have a
little animals, but our kids do not get the recognitions
like animals do. This is a This is not just
a Boston problem. This is a nation my problem. Our
(33:01):
children on all you like they should be. And I'm sorry,
I don't care. It's wrong, especially a minorities and disay
book communities. And that's all I have to say about that.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Thank you. If you celebrate Christmas, thank you for calling.
That was a Christmas gift you gave to Boston. From
North Carolina. We like to think of ourselves as we're
the smallest people in the world up here. Well, I
think we just had a lesson from a woman in
North Carolina, and I thank you very much for doing.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
You guys have a wonderful Christmas and pray for our nation,
and do me a.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Favor you keep listening and keep calling on my show.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
Okay, okay, thank you, thank.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
You very much. Let me go next to real quickly
to Victor in Jamaica plane. Victor, I want to get
you in here before the break, right ahead.
Speaker 8 (33:49):
Dan, I called you a few months ago about this.
But I'm wondering, is this some kind of like a
public outcry or protest about this taken place? Because no,
this is simply no.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
I'll tell you what this is, Victor. This is one
talk show host who told you a few months ago
I was going to stay on this story. And also
I want to credit John Hilliard, the reporter and the
writer at the Boston Herald who has been in the
lead of this story. And I've done stories following up
on what he has done in the news in the newspapers.
So I'm going to stay with it, John, Victor, I
(34:25):
promise you. It looks to me that John Hillard will as well.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Well.
Speaker 8 (34:29):
I appreciate it. It's just that, uh, I'm not sure
just quite why. It seems to be uh, some people
are keeping quiet on this and not saying anything, which
is kind of really disturbing. I don't know why that is.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I believe in transparencies, you know, Victor. They say sunlight
is the greatest disinfection. Politicians talk about transparency, but they
never utilize it, particularly on cases in which maybe their
administration and could could take some heat. It's it's if
they don't there's one way you can deny, deny, deny,
(35:07):
or if you're a big time politician, you just don't
answer it. You don't go on the radio, you don't
talk to a talk show host, you don't talk to
the residents of Boston. Wouldn't you like to ask the
DA what's going on here? DA? What's taken so long?
Is this like a complicated case? Is this the the
equivalent of the Kennedy assassination? I don't think so. The
(35:28):
kid got off the bus and then the bus rolled over.
Speaker 8 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah, exactly so, Victor.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I thank you for calling tonight. Merry Christmas. You're Victor.
I pledge to you and other people in Boston, I
will not leave this case until it's concluded. Okay.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 8 (35:48):
I like him, and thank.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You, Thank you very much, Victor. To the callers in
the line, I think I'm going to get back to
this later tonight. Bet to Joe and Walpole and Linda
in Weymouth. I wish it called a little earlier. I
gotta go to a guest on the other side. We're
going to talk about one in ten kids are abused
sexually before before they reached the age of eighteen. We
(36:11):
will get back to this later, I promise coming back
on Nightside. Stay with us back after this on Nightside.
It's Night Side with Dan Ray on w b Z,
Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Or right, Thank you very miss Dan Watkins. As we
move into Christmas week, I have been following a story
and I've asked all of you to take an interest
in the story as well. There was a little boy
five years old. I don't know him, I don't know
what anyone in his family. His name was Lenz Joseph,
(00:31):
and he was killed on April twenty eighth of this year.
So he, like other five year olds and six year olds,
should be going to sleep every night this week in
anticipation of Santa Claus. Unfortunately, Lenz Joseph lost his life
on April twenty eighth, and I think most of you
(00:52):
know the story. He was on a school bus, a
Boston City of Boston school bus, and he was lived
with his family in Hyde Park and the bus driver
that day had a rough day in many respects. Apparently
his certificate to drive a bus had expired and had
(01:16):
not been renewed. And earlier that afternoon, on the way
home from his school, the bus driver sideswiped a parked car,
never stopped, never reported the accident, as if it didn't happen.
And then he apparently gets somehow turned around and the
(01:39):
way his bus route was laid out, he was supposed
to drop five year old Lens Joseph and his eleven
year old cousin off in front of their house, but
he ended up on the other side of the intersection,
and instead of taking his time, for whatever reason, he
(02:01):
decided to drop Lens and his cousin on the other
side of an intersection, but Lens never got to the
intersection within five seconds or less. According to studies that
the Boston Globe have conducted, they of course had to
(02:23):
file all sorts of freedom of information material and the
lead reporter on the story is a reporter named John
Hilliard who has done just a terrific job on this
story and has broken story information all along. As the
little boy and his sister, his eleven year old cousin
(02:44):
excuse me, got off the bus, they walked in front
of the bus and the bus the driver apparently was
distracted and he took off or rolled forward and killed
five year old Lens. Show The family now has a
lawsuit civil lawsuit, but they no longer have this little
(03:08):
precious five year old boy as a member of their
family and again he was killed by the very bus
that was driving him home. I just am just stunned
by the story. Now, we have talked before about the
(03:29):
fact that the District Attorney of Saffolk County has brought
no criminal charge against anyone in the death of this boy,
this little this young young boy. The district Attorney in
Safa County is Kevin Hayden, and my producer today invited
(03:49):
the district attorney to join us and talk about what
progress is being made in this case. You know, Frank
Sinatra had a big song for fifty years ago. Basically
the line was a long way from May to December
and talked to it was really it was a metaphor
(04:10):
for someone's life that it's a long time, but eventually
September comes and the days dwindle down and you get
to December and that's when the person's life in this
metaphor of the song would end. It's been a long
(04:33):
time from April to December, and we can call it
the first of May because it was the first week
of May, April twenty eighth. So the response from the
district attorney today was to our producer, Karen Bussemi Hi,
Karen This is from his spokesperson, one of these people
(04:54):
who were paid money to basically prevent them from being
available to the public. Our policy is not to discuss
aspects of active death investigations beyond confirming their status. But
thank you for the invite. So you know that's a
district attorney that's not interested in talking to me, not
(05:14):
interested in talking to the residents of Suffolk County, the
voters of Suffer County. And I think you should remember
that the next time that he stands for reelection, because
this is a case, why would they not be some
criminal action taking here? Even if you want to amend
a criminal complaint, that can be done by any first
(05:37):
year assistant district attorney. Well, anyway, the story in The
Globe today by James Hilliard discloses for the first time
to my knowledge, that the company that had ensured the
Boston Bus Company, they basically was ensuring the buses for
(06:05):
the city of Boston, National Interstate. On March fourth of
this year, citing the increased frequency of liability losses, decided
that they would not renew the policy on June thirtieth. Now,
National Interstate was the insurance company at the time of
(06:27):
Lens Joseph's death, but apparently over time the number of
claims that accidents was an astonishing number. Okay, we'll get
to that in a moment. They had about I guess
(06:49):
seven hundred and seventy claims between June of twenty three.
June of twenty twenty three and January of twenty twenty
five would have been last January, and that's only a
period of about eighteen months. So there were about forty
two bus accident claims involving buses on average per month.
(07:15):
And of course the buses are much less prevalent on
roadways during June, July and August when school is out
of session. Are there some school buses out there? Yeah,
So this company, Transdev was basically instructed. It's a French company,
(07:36):
US headquarters in Illinois, and they transport about twenty one
thousand students per day. It's not a big number of
students compared to what used to have in Boston. Boston
was put unnotice according to John Hilliot's Peace in the
Globe Today as early as twenty twenty one, that more
needed to be done to improve driver training and safety.
According to annual inspection reports conducted by National Interstate obtained
(08:00):
by the Globe in December in response to a records request.
So the Globe went and got these records. Now Interstate
obviously is the insurer, but they also want to make
sure they haven't insured a company that has had a
proliferation of accident claims, because I guess they've paid out
about three three and a half million dollars in claims,
(08:23):
and one of the claims that at this point is
still being litigated is the death of Lenz Joseph. So
the crast that killed Lens remains under investigation by the
Suffolk District Attorney's office at Boston Police. No one has
been charged. No one has been charged in connection with
(08:43):
the crash. It's as if it didn't happen. Oh there's
a five year old it's dead. But that kid's from
you know, Boston. Okay, it's a minority child, he's probably
not the same if this had happened in Weston. Do
you think there would have been no charges seven eight
months later, I somehow think there would have been charges.
I somehow think there would have been charges, And if
(09:05):
you're honest, you would be too. National Interstate declined comment.
They're private company. I get that. In their twenty twenty report,
the insurer urged Boston to more effectively use its camera
system to address unstafed unsafe driving behaviors, and it called
for all drivers who had an accident, incident, injury, traffic citation,
(09:27):
or who were involved in an unsafe act to complete
remedial safety training. In twenty twenty three, the insurer said
Boston needed to improve its accident investigation program by ensuring
drivers would train and equipped to handle the scene of
the accident, and to offer a finishing program for drivers
with less than two years of commercial motor vehicle experience. So,
(09:48):
when this driver had an accident in Mattapan and sideeswaped
the car, his idea to finish the program rather would
train to equip to handle the scene of an act
was the just keep going? Was the just keep going?
In twenty twenty four, the insurer called on Boston to
formalize it's remedial training for drivers involved in accidents, imposed
(10:10):
mandatory more frequent safety training throughout the year, and enhance
processes for reporting, tracking, or managing driver fatigue. This is
all John Hilliard's work in The Boston Globe Today. Ultimately
and we're going to talk more about this. Ultimately, the
insurer National Interstate, dropped the City of Boston. Okay, so
(10:34):
the City of Boston has picked up another insurance company,
as I'm sure they have. I'm sure they're paying more
money to the new insurance company. We did, as you
would expect. We did reach out to the to the
Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Mary Skipper. They wrote back,
(10:57):
good afternoon, Karen, confirming we received inquiry. Unfortunately, the superintendent
is not available to take part in the live segment
this evening. Thank you and happy holidays, best Samara Pinto,
Deputy Press Secretary, Communications Office, Well, I got a feeling
that every time we sent that invitation to Mary Skipper
she wouldn't be able. But she's welcome to come in
(11:19):
any night. On the phone, Mary Skipper, if you're listening
on the phone, you don't even have to leave the
You don't have to drive and leave the safety of
your own house. Okay, same way for you, District Attorney
Hayden on the phone. Where's the investigation? Are there chargers
that are being contemplated? Is there a grand jury that's
(11:39):
investigating I think the public has a right to know
and I think that the taxpayers of Boston have a
right to know, and I think my listeners have a
right to know. If you feel you have a right
to know, or if you care about this, it's a
five year old kid who's dead. Think about it. If
it was your child, or if it was your grandchild,
(12:00):
why does it matter any less? If it's a child
in Boston? Why does it matter any less that this
is a five year old child who lost his life
getting off his school bus. Six one seven, two, five,
four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
(12:20):
Don't let the powers that be think that you're not
interested in this story. I am interested in it. I'm
going to talk about it until ten o'clock and maybe
we'll pick up on it later on tonight. I have
a guest coming up at ten o'clock, but I hope
that you'll join me. I hope you'll join the chorus
and have the courage to call in and let Kevin
Hayden and let Mary Skipper and all these other people
(12:42):
who are working in the public sector and are hiding,
hiding in plain sight. They won't talk to John Hilliard
from the Globe. They are going to talk to me,
and they're not going to talk to you, but I
think they need to hear it, so shout it from
the rooftops. Do better than that. Dial six one seven,
two thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
(13:05):
You know, someday you may not have talk shows like this.
You never know. And then you'll say, gee, I wish
I had someone I could I could express myself. They
tell you, well, you can vote, oh yeah, for DA
every six years, for mayor every four years, for governor
every four years Nightside, but two hundred and twenty five
(13:25):
nights a year. You can call up and you can
raise topics or you can respond to topics. That's what
we do. I'm back on Nightside with you hopefully after this.
Speaker 1 (13:35):
It's Nightside with Dan Ray on Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (13:40):
Okay, let's go directly to the phones. Eddie is in
West Roxbury. Eddie, thank you for calling in. You are
next our first up this week on Nightside.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
IK, good evening, Merry Christmas and I hope you enjoy
your time off to Leah first of the.
Speaker 2 (13:53):
Year, and the Merry Christmas to you as well.
Speaker 3 (13:55):
And I did not read this article in the Globe
today was there any mention of an independent investigator by
the name of Kitwell. She's a very well known Boston attorney,
farmer Cambridge police officer, A very nice lady, very good lawyer. Yep,
she supposedly was hired by the stity to do an
independent investigation.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, there was a an investigation, but I don't know
that the results of that investigation. I'm going to read
from the article for your benefit. In August, an independent
investigation of the Boston Public Schools and trans to have
announced by Mayor Michelle Woo and Superintendent Mary Skipper faulted
the district and its contractor for failing to properly oversee
(14:40):
and manage school bus operations. So they fault the district
and its contractor. So the district is Boston Public Schools
and the contractor is trans deav. But we didn't need
an investigation to know that. What have they done about it?
For failing to properly oversee and management school bus operations.
(15:04):
The bottom line is that the child is still dead.
No one's been charged with anything, and you know it's
it's They had a news conference, they said we're going
to do this, We're going to do What have they done.
I have seen no indication maybe I've missed it, but
no reforms that are put into place at all.
Speaker 3 (15:22):
Well, I think the key point Dan is on the
day and time in question, on the twenty eighth of April.
What condition was the driver in? What rules of the
world did he not obey? It's all about the driver
and the operation of the bus, not about the safety
factors of the school department of the bus company. Well,
(15:45):
I disagree with you question.
Speaker 2 (15:47):
Yeah, I'll disagree with you because the safety factors and
what training the bus drivers received, how carefully they were.
This guy had had a side swiped a car in
that you know, if you live in West Roxby, you
know the relationship between Mattapan and UK Park. And then
it was just a few minutes later. He never stopped,
(16:08):
never slowed down, never reported the accident as all of
which he was supposed to do. Then he just goes
merrily along his way, gets to the intersection and drops
the child and his eleven year old cousin off across
the street from where they should be. And it wasn't
as if the child was hit in the middle of
the intersection that would have been bad enough. It was
(16:29):
he was run over by his own bus.
Speaker 3 (16:31):
Why are they not releasing this information?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I gotta be honest with you, that would be my
first question ed. I mean, it screams of some sort
of let's just sit on it for as long as
we can and everybody will forget about it. And the
problem is the problem is that people do forget about it.
You know, I have some full lines here. You know,
if this was someone's grandchild or someone's child, that'd be
(16:58):
up in arms. But because it's a little black kid,
people aren't a conservative.
Speaker 3 (17:02):
My final comment will be this, and I'll let you
get to your other calls. Okay, this bus company. Has
this bus company contributed to anybody's political campaign in Boston?
Speaker 2 (17:12):
I've not done that research. But again, John Hilliard, who's
been the lead reporter of The Globe, and I am
I hesitate to I criticize the Globe more often than
a complimented. But Hillary has done a great job on this.
I don't know that they physically can, but you don't
know if individuals in the company have contributed. You you
would like to think that things are on.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
The up and up, but please, please, I mean I
don't want to be.
Speaker 2 (17:37):
Naive, but at the same time, I don't want to
make allegations or implications or insinuations that I can substantiate.
I think the it's it's it's almost as if if
you wake up in the morning and you notice that
they're a that there's snow on the ground, uh, and
you notice that maybe there's some some snow, some foot
(18:00):
prince into snow, you kind of can come to the
conclusion that if when you went to bed last night
it hadn't snowed, that it snowed overnight and someone was
walking around your house, you know, put footprints.
Speaker 3 (18:12):
The bottom line is, but there's an exchange of money
here on probably a political contribution.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
I don't know, I can't you know, I can't say that.
I will allow you to to speculate on that, but
I don't want you to mention any names.
Speaker 5 (18:27):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (18:28):
The bottom line is this company has had this contract
for some time. It's an Illinois company which is actually
from France. We can't find a bus company in New
England that could do this job.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
Is that?
Speaker 2 (18:40):
Is that what we're supposed to believe?
Speaker 3 (18:43):
Number of years ago Ellison was on the school committee.
Remember that case in Boston.
Speaker 2 (18:49):
Yes, Verly that was Paul Ellison. Yeah, there have been
cases before, but but again, I can't project that whatever
happened back then on current school committee. And I'm not
going to go there with that, and I don't want
you to either, Okay, But but the bottom line is, Look,
if people aren't interested and they don't want to talk
(19:10):
about this tonight, I know it's a busy night, but
you know, I got open lines. And if every mother
and every father could put themselves in the position of
this family and think what would they do, they'd be
jumping up and down. I mean, it's it's like the
person whose son or daughter is killed in a drunk
driving accident. They then spend the rest of their lives out,
(19:33):
you know, campaigning against drunk driving. The time to campaign
against drunk driving is before your son and daughter is killed.
You know, you got to be involved, and you got
your voice has to be heard. I'm doing this tonight
because I think it's important, maybe.
Speaker 3 (19:49):
My own importance or it is to you, it is
to me.
Speaker 2 (19:52):
It's vitally important. Can you imagine there? Can you imagine
if there was a five year old kid who was
run over by his own bus pick a town Wellesley Winchester, Weston.
Do you think they would go eight months without charges
being filed. I just don't think so, do I. So
what that leads me to believe is somehow the value
(20:13):
of this little boy's life is somehow less than if
he lived in one of the more affluent suburbs. And
I don't buy that. I don't believe that for a second.
And that's why I'm going to talk about it for
at least until ten o'clock and maybe get back to
it later. But I thank you, I thank you calling
(20:33):
in from West Roxbury. I want to hear from people
in every section of Boston right now. But guess what,
you know, there's a lot of people. They're oblivious to this.
They're the same people who are oblivious in the middle
of a supermarket when they had me their carriage blocking
the aisle so you can't proceed down the aisle, and
they're standing there looking at canned vegetables and they think
(20:57):
nothing of the world around them. All their focus is
on what how much a kid peas today while they're
blocking the aisle, people are They're concerned with their own lives.
They don't give a crap that a five year old
kid was run over by a Boston school bus.
Speaker 3 (21:12):
Why did the mayor have to go out and hire
an independent atternity investigate this Any experienced Boston police officer
could have investigated this accident. She didn't have to go
and spend the money to get a lawyer.
Speaker 2 (21:23):
I don't worry about the money. I'm worried about I'm
worried about due process, and I'm worried about justice and
whens and justice denied is justice delayed? A lot of
justice has been denying here. It's been denied for eight months.
There is a long, a long time between May and December.
As Frank Sinatra saying, Hey, I appreciate your call and
I really do, uh.
Speaker 3 (21:42):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (21:44):
Talk to you soon, Happy New Year, Merry Christmas. We'll
take a break, coming right back. Here's the news a
little bit late. Got Larry and David's in Dennisport. Got Craigan, Ohio,
and thank them. And if you're listening right now and
you don't have the guts to pick up the phone
and just say there's something that smells here, then you know,
wake up and smell the coffee. Six seven two five
(22:05):
thirty six.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
You're on Night Side with Dan ray On w Boston's
news radio.
Speaker 2 (22:14):
Let me go to Larry and Dennisport. Hey, Larry, Welcome.
Speaker 6 (22:19):
Good evening, Dan. So when we talked about this a
few weeks ago, I remember that. Yes, so my son
was used to be in the vehicular homicide unit for
the police department. He coincidentally had transferred out like a
week or two right before this accident happened when I
(22:41):
but when I discussed it with him, he wasn't surprised.
His job was as soon as something like this happens,
he's called in immediately, whether he's working or not, has
to drive in. He's part of the crime scene reconstructive unit,
would gather as much information as he could. I think
you mentioned this standard protocol for CDL licensed the company
(23:04):
supposed to have him drug tested the driver immediately. So yeah,
and then all of that information that my son and
whoever his team he's working with, he turns that into
his superior, who has two separate guys detectives that gather
all this information and do the actual investigating and probably
(23:28):
contact the district attorney. But what he said was when
he was in that units, he was working on some
cases that were a year or two old. That's how
either overwhelming are or that's how intricate the processes. I
don't know. I don't want to defend a criticized.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
Oh, I get that. I would only say that everything
that you and I know about this accident, this young
boy got off the bus and according to video that
again John Hilliard from the Globe has uncovered within five
seconds that kid was dead, right, Okay, So that means
(24:06):
as soon as the child got off the bus, the
driver should have been alert and know that he had
dropped the child off on the wrong side of the intersection,
and that the child very likely would go across the
intersection because he probably his grandmothers. I believe both of
his grandmothers were waiting for him across the intersection. They
(24:26):
witnessed what happened.
Speaker 6 (24:29):
Yeah, it's a heart breaking story.
Speaker 3 (24:32):
Heartbreaking story.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Well it's also Look, look, I'm not willing to throw
the driver under the bus quite but if this guy
hit another car with that bus and did not report,
did not stop, did not share whatever information, even to
leave a note on the window of a parked car,
(24:54):
but just merrily continued on that guy shouldn't be driving anything.
He shouldn't be driving a car. Are never mind a bus.
He shouldn't be driving a motors he shouldn't be driving
a tricycle.
Speaker 7 (25:07):
I agree, I agree.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Also, thank you for thank you for the perspective. Larry,
Thank you so much. I hope if you you've had
a happy honicas honicas. Is it tonight the last night
or is it all.
Speaker 6 (25:23):
I celebrate Festivus?
Speaker 2 (25:26):
You are with? Okay, well, I want to wish you
a very happy Festivus.
Speaker 6 (25:29):
Okay, thanks so.
Speaker 2 (25:32):
Much, Larry, talk soon. Thanks buddy, ba. Here we go,
let's keep rolling. He're going to go next to Craig
and Ohio. Craig, thank you for calling in from Ohio.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
How are you all right?
Speaker 4 (25:43):
Uh?
Speaker 7 (25:45):
If you could? I know nothing about this horrific situation
except for here on the radio. Uh are you telling
me the powers to be kind of look at it is? Well,
it's a black kid from the city. You know, we're
not going to pay a whole lot attention to. But
(26:06):
if there's a white kid for more influential neighborhood, they'd
be doing more well, it would.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
Appear to me.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
Look, let me tell you, Okay, I'm a white kid
from the city. I grew up in the city. I
grew up not far from where Lens Joseph was killed. Okay,
so I know that part of Boston. And the fact
of the matter is Lenses was a black young man
five years five years old. Okay, I guarantee you that
(26:36):
if in some of our better suburbs, whether we're talking
about Brookline, Newton, Wellesley, Weston, Sudbury, these are these are
the cities, the towns outside the periphery of Boston, if
there was a child killed by their own school bus.
I mean, you'd have people out in the streets, you know,
(26:59):
I mean you would. It's as simple as that. And
the only difference that I can see is this was
an urban, uh incident that all of the surrounding you know,
this was you know, there was no factor here that
would say, well the bus driver was a little later,
it was raining, or it was snowing, a blizzard was
(27:22):
going on. This was a beautiful late April day. I mean,
that child got off, the child got off the bus,
crossed obviously in front of the bus and was run over.
Speaker 7 (27:39):
Unbelievable, you know, I you know, I just can't imagine,
you know, for everybody in that family. When he said
the grandmas were across the street. Oh my lord, yep, yep,
I believe that.
Speaker 2 (27:51):
And he was with his eleven year old cousin, a
little girl, a little eleven year old girl. She witnessed everything.
Speaker 7 (28:01):
I think something thatter go ahead of the line here
like this case.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
You know, it's just you know, justace delayed. Is justice denied.
I don't think that the driver was charged. Well, I
know the drive. No one's be charged with anything, Craig.
I know that you had nothing to do with this accident.
So the fact that you're not charged, I know I
had nothing to do with this accident. But I know
that the guy that was driving the bus in this videotape,
(28:27):
which according to the Globe, shows that he was not paying.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Attention all right now, again that's an.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
Observation from the boss to Globe reporter. But something happened here.
That child stepped off the bus. Within five to seven seconds,
he was dead.
Speaker 7 (28:45):
I'm real, thanks, Craig.
Speaker 2 (28:50):
I'm so delighted that one of my regular callers from
Ohio would have the guts to call in and raise
the obvious questions. And I mean that seriously. It shows
to me that you're a pretty good human being. Okay,
I mean that's bank you. Thank you. Craig. Right back
at you, quick break, coming right back on night Side.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
You're on Night Side with Dan ray one, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Okay, all of a sudden, the phones have lit up here,
which is fine with me. We're gonna try to get
everybody in. We'll see what we can do. We have
a guest at ten. We may come back to this later.
John and Boston next on Nightside.
Speaker 6 (29:25):
John, go right ahead, thanks d Dan.
Speaker 4 (29:28):
I'm just looking at the report that was done by
all State a couple of months ago. Boston is the
riskiest city in the country to drive. And then Springfield's
number four and scersely, what's the number four? Springfield's number five,
So these cities are very dangerous. Go to the Red Tree,
don and Braintree. They've given all licenses. Every time I've
been here six highs a past month. Every time I
(29:49):
go there, I smell plot. So there there is a
lack of days attitude here in massive, especially Boston. You
get bike lanes and you got these buses. Now one
insurance companies don't want to ensure the company. They have
to go to France to get a company This is
a dangerous ay, bosses, the number one city, the riskiest
city in the whole country. Dad, And I'll tell you,
(30:09):
I don't know why this five year old boys did?
I believe the legal profession.
Speaker 7 (30:13):
I know you're a lawyer.
Speaker 4 (30:14):
Why isn't the legal profession doing something about this? There's
a problem in Seattle. A woman was hit on the
on the head and he's now blind in one eye
because the legal profess to DA except letting this guy out. Now,
we have a problem near Boston. They're not going after
this the driver. They're not, by the way, let.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Me just read. Let me read one sentence to you, okay.
From the Globe piece today by John Hilliard. Unreleased bus
surveillance video from the crash, viewed by the Globe, which
I've looked at as well, appeared to show the driver
didn't have his eyes on the road when the bus
rolled forward instruct lens. That says it all to me.
Speaker 4 (31:00):
And why isn't the DA and why is the legal profession?
Why is it the beer of Boston? Why is the
governor going after in person? Going at this young boy's dead?
They don't give a damn Dan, Because the young boys
said it's Christmas time, and the mayor of Boston, I'm sorry,
in the gov they don't care because they're dragging their
feet on this. This is legal craft, Dan, They're dragging
(31:22):
his feet. You know it is, and I know it is.
Speaker 2 (31:24):
Well, that's why I'm talking about it, John, And that's
why I'm glad you took the time to call in
tonight on it, because you're you're someone in Boston, and yeah,
I mean, where are our leaders? Where is the transparency
that we have been promised on an accident that took
this child's life? May June, July, August, September, October, November,
(31:47):
now most of December. That's eight months.
Speaker 4 (31:51):
Dan. You saw the bikes and the scooters going up
on the highway, hundreds of them, just a few months
ago on August. It's been going on yet. There is
a lawless atmosphere here in Boston and then Massachusetts, and
there's blue Just like John.
Speaker 2 (32:06):
I got you, I got you in here, but I
got to get a couple more in before I break.
Speaker 4 (32:10):
Okay, thanks you stoking up for the young boy.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
Did I'm with you? That's I'm so glad you. I
just wish you had called earlier. That's all, but thank
you for calling. Thanks John, Merry Christmas, Vicky and North Carolina. Vicky,
go right ahead.
Speaker 5 (32:24):
I'm going to be real brief. I've listened to your
show before. This is the first time I cried. I'm sorry,
I'm mom, and your grandma.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
I'm ready to I'm ready to cry about it as well.
When I think about this kid, I.
Speaker 5 (32:40):
Think this is nationwide what we're talking about. If you
notice how people fight for animals, which I have a
little animals, but our kids do not get the recognitions
like animals do. This is a This is not just
a Boston problem. This is a nation my problem. Our
(33:01):
children on all you like they should be. And I'm sorry,
I don't care. It's wrong, especially a minorities and disay
book communities. And that's all I have to say about that.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
Thank you. If you celebrate Christmas, thank you for calling.
That was a Christmas gift you gave to Boston. From
North Carolina. We like to think of ourselves as we're
the smallest people in the world up here. Well, I
think we just had a lesson from a woman in
North Carolina, and I thank you very much for doing.
Speaker 5 (33:32):
You guys have a wonderful Christmas and pray for our nation,
and do me a.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Favor you keep listening and keep calling on my show.
Speaker 5 (33:38):
Okay, okay, thank you, thank.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
You very much. Let me go next to real quickly
to Victor in Jamaica plane. Victor, I want to get
you in here before the break, right ahead.
Speaker 8 (33:49):
Dan, I called you a few months ago about this.
But I'm wondering, is this some kind of like a
public outcry or protest about this taken place? Because no,
this is simply no.
Speaker 2 (34:03):
I'll tell you what this is, Victor. This is one
talk show host who told you a few months ago
I was going to stay on this story. And also
I want to credit John Hilliard, the reporter and the
writer at the Boston Herald who has been in the
lead of this story. And I've done stories following up
on what he has done in the news in the newspapers.
So I'm going to stay with it, John, Victor, I
(34:25):
promise you. It looks to me that John Hillard will as well.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
Well.
Speaker 8 (34:29):
I appreciate it. It's just that, uh, I'm not sure
just quite why. It seems to be uh, some people
are keeping quiet on this and not saying anything, which
is kind of really disturbing. I don't know why that is.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
I believe in transparencies, you know, Victor. They say sunlight
is the greatest disinfection. Politicians talk about transparency, but they
never utilize it, particularly on cases in which maybe their
administration and could could take some heat. It's it's if
they don't there's one way you can deny, deny, deny,
(35:07):
or if you're a big time politician, you just don't
answer it. You don't go on the radio, you don't
talk to a talk show host, you don't talk to
the residents of Boston. Wouldn't you like to ask the
DA what's going on here? DA? What's taken so long?
Is this like a complicated case? Is this the the
equivalent of the Kennedy assassination? I don't think so. The
(35:28):
kid got off the bus and then the bus rolled over.
Speaker 8 (35:33):
Yeah, yeah, exactly so, Victor.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I thank you for calling tonight. Merry Christmas. You're Victor.
I pledge to you and other people in Boston, I
will not leave this case until it's concluded. Okay.
Speaker 3 (35:47):
I appreciate that.
Speaker 8 (35:48):
I like him, and thank.
Speaker 2 (35:49):
You, Thank you very much, Victor. To the callers in
the line, I think I'm going to get back to
this later tonight. Bet to Joe and Walpole and Linda
in Weymouth. I wish it called a little earlier. I
gotta go to a guest on the other side. We're
going to talk about one in ten kids are abused
sexually before before they reached the age of eighteen. We
(36:11):
will get back to this later, I promise coming back
on Nightside. Stay with us back after this on Nightside.
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