Man charged with assaulting teen girl on SEPTA trolley
PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Philadelphia police have arrested and charged a man wanted for attacking a teenage girl on board a SEPTA trolley.
40-year-old Damon Oliver turned himself in to East Detectives on Wednesday morning.
Oliver faces charges of simple assault, making terroristic threats and reckless endangerment.
The attack occurred on the Route 15 trolley on Wednesday, January 21st.
The victim, Shay, is 17. We're withholding her full name at the family's request.
She says she had just hopped on the trolley at Broad and Girard for the short trip to school.
Police say the suspect became violent after her backpack kept hitting him.
"My bag kept bumping this man and he was getting mad that my bag was bumping him. He starting calling me out and getting real smart with me," Shay said.
She ignored him.
But she says the man got up, threatened her in her ear, and ripped her off her hat. When she saw he had his fists clenched, she tried to defend herself.
"I hit him and he hit me at like the same time. He hit me like three or four times in the face," Shay said.
Another rider captured the incident on cell phone video.
"He's a creep on a bus full of kids. If the book bag is hitting understand you're on a bus full of kids, it happens," her mother told Action News.
Authorities say Oliver eventually fled at 7th and Girard.
Shay was taken to Jefferson Hospital where she was treated for her injuries.
Police continue to investigate.
