A woman who threw a cup of her own urine at a D.C. bus driver on Saturday turned herself in to police on Wednesday and told News4 the driver had been rude to her.
"I was provoked. I hate Metro," Opal L. Brown told News4's Adam Tuss in a phone interview Wednesday morning.
"I’ve been catching Metro for 35 years. They've never done s--- for me," the Southeast D.C. resident said.
News4 was there as Brown, 38, was arrested Wednesday morning by Metro Transit Police.
"Why did you do what you did?" News4's Pat Collins asked
"I'm not going to say that. But I apologize to my community," Brown said as officers led her away in handcuffs.
"I'm sorry, y'all, but she had to get it!" Brown said.
Why?" Collins asked.
"I'm tired of Metro!" Brown shouted as officers led her up a Metro escalator.
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Surveillance video from an X2 bus shows Brown urinating into a purple to-go cup and then throwing the contents of the cup onto the driver.
"To say bizarre is really an understatement. It's a vulgar assault," Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik said Tuesday.
Brown called News4 early Wednesday and said she wanted to explain what happened. She said she was running late for an appointment Saturday evening when she got on the X2 bus. She said she needed to relieve herself.
"I had to go to the bathroom real, real bad. You know what I'm saying," Brown said. "I just peed in a cup."
She said she intended to throw the cup of urine away. Then, as she was about to get off the bus at Benning Road and Minnesota Avenue about 6:15 p.m., the bus driver spoke to her.
"She said 'Have a nice day' all sarcastically," Brown said. "She could have been more courteous."
She threw the liquid onto the driver, who soon realized it was urine.
Surveillance video shows Brown running away.
The driver was taken to a hospital and "decontaminated," police said. The bus was taken out of service for cleaning.
Police told News4 on Tuesday that there was no apparent motive for the assault.
Tuss asked Brown if the bus driver had done anything specific to provoke the assault.
"No, no, no," she replied. Later, she said, "She was waving me off and flicking me off."
Also, she said the driver gave her a rude look.
"I did feel bad," Brown said. She said she wants to apologize to the driver.
Brown has three children and one grandchild, she told News4. She is a theological student who celebrated her mother's 70th birthday earlier on Saturday near the scene of the crime, her Facebook page says.
Here's what she posted to the page at 6:35 a.m. Wednesday, shortly before she called News4:
"OK YALL KNOW IT WAS ME WHO DID THE BAD STUFF TO THE METRO OPERATOR!!!
BUT I WANT TO APOLOGIZE TO HER BUT METRO OWE ME AND SHR WAS BEING VERY RUDE. SO AT 2:40 AM I WALKED UP TO THE POLICE THAT WAS AT BENCO SND CONFESSED TO IT CUZ IT WAS ON MY HEART ALL DAY. BUT ANYWHO TRANSIT CAME. AND THEY WERE REALLY COOL I ALMOST FELT LIKE A CELEBRITY. IT TOOK ALL OF 20 MINUTES JUST GOTTA GO TO COURT FOR THE SIMPLE ASULT."
Brown works for a grocery company and graduated from Dunbar High School in 1997, her Facebook page says.
She's due in court Thursday and will be charged with simple assault.
