Father forces way onto bus, orders daughter to hit boy, police say

SPRING, Texas – A parent of a Spring Independent School District student is facing charges of assault and criminal trespassing after authorities said he got on a school bus, assaulted the bus driver and ordered his daughter to hit a boy who had previously assaulted her.

Matthew JMichaelsen Johnson has an open warrant in Harris County for the charges.

“She stated that someone punched her in the nose,” said Kim Johnson, the girl’s mother. “He’s a fourth-grader and she’s in the second grade.”

Johnson said when her daughter got off the bus with a bloody nose and blood all over her hands, Johnson’s husband became upset. The next morning, he went to the bus stop.

According to court documents, Johnson, 28, was waiting at 311 North Vista Drive around 7:20 a.m. As students were getting on the bus, Johnson also started to board, but the bus driver told him he was not allowed on the bus.

Johnson was using profanity, including the F-word, and is accused of pushing and striking the bus driver with his chest, according to court documents.

Johnson then had his daughter point out the student who had reportedly punched her in the nose. Johnson told his daughter to “pop” him, stating, "I don't care if she hit you first. She is a girl and you don't hit girls."

Johnson continued to tell his daughter to strike the student, until she took a swing.

There were about 50 students on the bus at the time.

“He did tell her to hit him back,” Kim Johnson said. “He was upset. He did tell her.”

Johnson insists her husband never physically touched the bus driver, but court documents state there is surveillance video of the incident, which has been reviewed by the authorities.

“There was nothing physical between him and the bus driver,” she said. “He didn’t hit the bus driver. He didn’t push the bus driver.”

On Friday afternoon, there was a Spring ISD police officer following the bus driver while he was on his route, and the officer waited at the bus stop until all the children were off the bus. Parents told KPRC the officer has been there every day since the incident.

In a statement, Spring ISD said,

"The Harris County District Attorney's office has accepted charges against a parent for assaulting a Spring ISD bus driver and for criminal trespassing. Thankfully no students were injured, and the driver was able to continue his route after the incident occurred.

"It is clearly stated in the Spring ISD Student and Parent Handbook that parents/guardians are not permitted to board a school bus or disrupt the normal operation of a bus route. The safety of our students is our highest priority, and we will always enforce the policies and procedures that are in place to protect them."