Video never before released by MBTA allegedly shows driver hitting passenger

BOSTON (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Video that was never before released shows what really happened aboard an MBTA bus that later caused a crash.

Now a mother is looking to appeal her son's conviction, and she believes the public should know what she calls the whole truth. Part of the video was never released to FOX25 by the MBTA in 2013. It shows a bus driver swinging at a passenger, then leaving his post behind the wheel.

The bus later crashed into three parked cars in Chelsea. After that, driver Derek Smith walks off the bus and leaves all the passengers behind.

"I can't believe that the MBTA or whoever would not let that tape out because that tape is the truth," said Marion Benoit, Doug Bergeron's mother said.

When the MBTA first released the video, it was stopped at a certain point to show Bergeron as the aggressor. And among other charges, Bergeron was found guilty of assault and battery on a public employee, and sentenced to two and a half years in jail.

This same driver was arrested in Lynn, and charged in a separate incident. Earlier this month, Smith appeared in court accused of kicking Matthew Theisz in the head after Theisz threw a snowball into the bus in Lynn.

Court documents from the case show Theisz said the bus operator, "Became belligerent and verbally aggressive and then attacked him."

Now, all of it is raising questions like why didn't the MBTA release the whole video in the first case?

In a statement, a spokesman told FOX25 that the point was "to solicit the public's help in identifying the assailant. And it worked."

The statement went on to say, "The other video is immaterial to the identification process."

The T pointed out the "DA brought no charges against the bus operator who was the victim of an unprovoked attack."

FOX25's Sharman Sacchetti did try reaching Smith at home but nobody came to the door. On the phone his lawyer told Sacchetti that he couldn't comment on the video because he hadn't yet seen it. He believes his client is innocent in the most recent case in Lynn.

The MBTA said Smith is no longer employed there. He is out on $750 bail. His lawyer also told Sacchetti he believes his client should get his job back.

Cox Media Group