Exclusive: Victim of Teen Beating Says Security Failed 3 Times
Girl beaten at Seattle bus stop: guards were warned twice, did nothing after.
Feb. 15, 2010 — -- The victim of a vicious teen beating said security ignored her before, during and after the attack at a Seattle bus stop that left her unconscious.
"I warned the guards about the situation," Aiesha, 15, told "Good Morning America" in an exclusive interview. "I still have yet to hear any of their voices. ... After the situation, they told me I had to clear the area because there are other riders who have to get on the buses."
In addition, before going into the bus tunnel she told two Seattle police officers twice that she was in danger, but they declined to help her.
At the bus stop, "Nobody even acknowledged that I was in their presence," she said.
In the surveillance video that caught the assault on tape, Aiesha is seen getting jumped from behind by another girl in front of a trio of uniformed guards.
Click here to watch the raw video of the attack.
As she fell to the curb of the Westlake Center transit terminal, Aiesha is straddled by one of her assailants and then surrounded by other teens who start to rob her of her belongings. One security guard can be seen standing directly over Aiesha as she is stomped and then kicked in the head by a teenage girl. After the beating, the attacker walked away.
"When it actually happened, it happened so quick," Aiesha said. "I can't really describe or explain or tell you what I remember. ... I didn't know how horrifying it looked. It made me sick to the stomach."
Aiesha said after the attack that no one offered to help her except for one woman who helped her to her feet. With the assailants still in the area, Aiesha said the officers still refused to call for help or to take her anywhere where she'd be safe.
Aiesha's mother, Letta, who appeared with her on "GMA," said she had to watch the video in separate segments, because she would become too emotional in extended viewings.
"I don't know if I was more horrified about the kicking or about the guard standing there," she said. "She still was passed out once the assailants left. Everybody just resumed ... walking over her."
The family's attorney, James Bible, said it is "certainly" considering further legal action both against the city and state.
"As a mother, I want to see justice served," Letta said.
According to King County Sheriff's Department spokesman John Urquhart, the security guards at the terminal did what the job required.
"They are to observe and report," Urquhart told "Good Morning America." "And that means be a good witness and call 911. And that's exactly what they did."
