Paratransit Driver Reportedly Uses Training To Help 15-Year-Old Girl Flee Abusive Situation
When you’re young and in danger, it can be hard to know who to turn to for help. “Safe Place” is a movement that aims to help youth who find themselves in bad situations.
“As a collaborative community prevention initiative, Safe Place designates businesses and organizations as Safe Place locations, making help readily available to youth in communities across the country,” the National Safe Place website states. “Safe Place locations include: libraries, YMCAs, fire stations, public buses, various businesses, and social service facilities.”
One of those places is a DART Paratransit van that was being driven by new driver Josiah Davis in Dallas, Texas, on Dec. 27. He was stopped at a gas station for a fill-up when a 15-year-old girl approached him.
“A young lady walked to me,” he told KDFW. “She had like a purple drawstring bag, and she was asking can she request a safe place with me.”
“I actually freaked out because we went over it in training and it’s one of those things you think you’d never have to use or utilize, or you just think it would never happen to you,” he continued.
Since he didn’t know what kind of trouble the girl was in — and KDFW only described it as an “abusive situation” and connected to human trafficking — he stayed aware of his surroundings.
“Just in case, if anybody was actually looking for her or if I seen suspicious characters looking at my van, looking for her,” he said. “So I didn’t know what the situation was, so I was just being really observant to make sure.”
Davis called his network supervisor, Charles Harper (who also happens to be Davis’ dad, according to KDFW), and safety and training supervisor Robert Weest was able to observe the situation.
“With our live camera feed, I went in and looked at what was actually going on,” Weest said. “I was able to tell, I recorded it.”
“You want to make sure that you reach out to dispatch so that they’re aware of the situation so that MV supervisors can be on the scene,” Harper explained. “And then he’s going to call Big Star Transit, which is a provider for the MV Transportation and DART network, and our network manager, Raven Carroll, immediately went to the scene.”
Thanks to Davis’ actions, the young lady was able to get help and potentially avoid a very bad situation.
Harper took to Facebook to share how proud he was of his son.
“How proud can a guy be?” he wrote. “So, my rock star, Josiah Davis, was recently honored at Big Star Transit, LLC by the Safety Manager of MV Transportation, Robert Weest, for his responsible and empathetic decision making in allowing his transportation vehicle to be used as a safe haven for a young lady who was seeking safety. MV Transportation is the broker for D.A.R.T. public transportation.”
“Tomorrow Josiah will be interviewed by Channel 4 News for his responsible and empathetic decision making!!!! Josiah Davis is an independent Contractor on the Big Star Transit, LLC Network that provides NEMT and Paratransit transportation for persons with disabilities.”
“I am so insanely proud of him!!!!! Go Josiah!!!!!!!”
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