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Health & Fitness

History Blog: Union City Bus Chase

A Union City bus chases a group of girls through Decoto.

On August 22, 1978, an interesting event took place in Union City. A Union City Transit Bus, known as "The Flea", chased a group of girls through Union City streets for 30 minutes.

It all started at the corner of Union Square Drive and Decoto Road. The bus, on it's normal route was on its way to BART, with a number of passengers. As the bus turned on to Union Square Drive, one girl, in a group of girls, threw a milkshake at the bus, hitting it on its side.

The bus driver, in a fit of rage, did a u-turn and started chasing the girls. The exact path of the chase was not documented in the newspaper report, but a passenger did state that the driver made two illegal u-turns, and backed up in two intersections.

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Eventually, the driver caught up with the girls at the corner of 5th and G Streets. The bus driver left the bus and grabbed the 15 year old girl that had flung the offending frozen dairy product. Along with a passenger, the driver held onto the girl until police arrived. While on the chase, the driver contacted the police via the bus radio, so they were not very far away. It took some time for the police to sort out all that had happened, getting slightly conflicting stories from the driver, passengers and girls.

The end result was that the driver, James Gibbons, was fired from Patterson Transportation, the company that had the contract with the City for bus service. Mr. Patterson, the company owner, said "I understand the driver's position. Sometimes you get to the point of total exasperation with the treatment you get."

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The newspaper reports do not state what action was taken against the girl that started the whole affair. In its reporting of the chase, the Daily Review referred to it as a "keystone kops-type" chase.

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