Prosecutor's office will review bus assault case
BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

MANALAPAN - The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office is reviewing a recent incident that resulted in charges being lodged against a township resident and the driver of a school bus.

A Manalapan municipal court spokesperson said the Feb. 4 arraignment of school bus driver Gilbert H. Horowitz, who was charged by Manalapan police with harassment, was postponed because the matter is now under review at the office of Prosecutor Luis Valentin.

According to the court spokesperson, the cross complaints between Horowitz, 67, of Ocean Township, and John Bannon, 18, of Manalapan, were sent to the prosecutor's office for review because a burglary charge that was lodged against Bannon is a potentially indictable offense.

Horowitz is employed by Durham School Services, Freehold, a private bus company. He was transporting students home from St. John Vianney High School, Holmdel, on Jan. 14 when he allegedly made a lewd comment to Bannon's 15-year-old sister on the school bus.T

he confrontation between Bannon and Horowitz took place the next day, on the afternoon of Jan. 15.

According to police, Horowitz told authorities that Bannon had initially confronted him verbally regarding statements Bannon alleges Horowitz made to Bannon's sister while she was riding on the bus the previous day.

Attorney Peter Chamas, who is representing Bannon, said the school is culpable in the matter.

"This all could have been avoided if the school had done something when first informed of the inappropriate remarks that were made by Mr. Horowitz," he said.

According to Chamas, Bannon's parents complained to someone at St. John Vianney on Jan. 14 that Horowitz was "making lewd comments that made Mr. Bannon's sister extremely nervous whenever she was on the bus with the man."

Chamas said the parents were told by whomever it was they spoke to at St. John Vianney that they needed to "take it up with the bus company."

An individual in the St. John Vianney principal's office said administrators would have no comment on the matter.

Chamas also said the continuing police investigation into the incident revealed that Horowitz had allegedly directed inappropriate remarks to other students on his bus.

In response to that assertion, Manalapan police Capt. Lou Moreto said, "We're not going to make a comment on that one way or the other."

Bannon was charged on Jan. 15 with aggravated assault on a bus driver, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a minor, burglary and criminal mischief after he allegedly boarded the bus and attacked the driver.

He was charged with burglary because he is alleged to have broken into the bus in order to physically assault Horowitz, according to police. Bannon was charged with endangering the welfare of a minor because another student was on the bus at the time of the alleged assault against Horowitz.

The criminal mischief charge was lodged against Bannon as a result of damage done to the door and interior of the bus, according to police.

A press statement issued by the Manalapan Police Department on Jan. 29 stated that the department's investigation disclosed that Horowitz "did in fact use offensively coarse and inappropriate language that was directed at the female juvenile while she was riding on the bus on Jan. 14 and that it was Horowitz's remarks to Bannon's sister that precipitated the (Jan. 15) assault."

According to the arrest warrant prepared for Horowitz, he is alleged to have said to the 15-year-old girl, "Punish me, whip me, I am that type of guy."

Police have alleged that while the school bus was in front of the Bannon home on Jan. 15 a verbal confrontation occurred between Bannon and Horowitz.

Subsequent to that it is alleged that Bannon forcibly entered the bus and assaulted the driver who was in the driver's seat and wearing a seat belt during the entire incident.

According to the police account of the incident, Horowitz completed his run and returned his bus to the bus yard before reporting the incident to police and receiving treatment at CentraState Medical Center, Freehold Township, for a broken nose and other facial injuries.

According to the Durham School Services general manager, Horowitz's injuries included a shattered nose and a broken eye socket, which required reconstructive surgery.

Horowitz is expected to remain on leave from his job until the matter is resolved, according to the general manager, who said Horowitz has been employed by the company for almost four years.