Crime & Safety

Lawyer Requests to Postpone RTA Uppercut Driver's Union Arbitration

Artis Hughes' hearing was set for March 27 but union president reports that the RTA's lawyer has requested that it be postponed to May

Arbitration over the firing of a Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority bus driver may be postponed, according to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 268 President William Nix.

Artis Hughes — the former RTA bus driver who is accused of uppercutting an unruly female passenger — was fired following the altercation.

According to an email Nix sent Patch, counsel for the RTA requested that the arbitration hearing scheduled for March 27 be postponed to late May or June. A reason was not given in the email and the lawyer did not return a phone call from Patch.

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Hughes, 59,  and Shidea Lane, 25, were involved in an altercation — which was recorded on a cell phone and later became a viral video — on an RTA bus in Beachwood last fall.

Lane reportedly boarded an RTA #5 bus Sept. 18 without paying. A dispute began that ended in Hughes, who was driving the bus, uppercutting Lane.

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Hughes was subsequently charged with a misdemeanor count of assault and pleaded not guilty in his arraignment. Last week, Hughes' criminal lawyer filed for a change of plea hearing with Shaker Heights Municipal Court, which was scheduled for April 2.

Lane was charged with disorderly conduct.


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