The woman shown on video smashing a bus and hitting its driver with her car appeared in court Tuesday. News4’s Meagan Fitzgerald tells what happened.
The young woman shown bashing a Greyhound bus in a viral video was ordered held without bond Tuesday, though her lawyer said she was mentally ill.
Prosecutors said 20-year-old Mariana Silver's family allowed her to go without medication for two weeks and allowed her to drive, making her a danger to the community.
Silver's defense said her family had made arrangements for her to get help and treatment.
But a judge ordered her to remain in jail.
Silver was upset in court, crying and holding her hands over her ears.
Her uncle Seth Silver told News4 on Monday that his niece is mentally ill and needs help.
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An alarming video released by D.C. police on Friday showed a woman smashing the driver's side window of the bus with a car jack and hitting the bus driver with her car as he apparently tries to stop her from leaving the scene of a crash. Police said she also used a baseball bat to crack the windshield.
Seth Silver said he was stunned by her behavior.
"As long as I’ve known her, I’ve never seen her like this," he said.
Mariana Silver is schizophrenic and was not on medication at the time of the bus incident, according to her uncle.
Symptoms of schizophrenia can include delusions, hallucinations and trouble making decisions, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
After the incident Thursday, Mariana Silver was charged Friday with assault with a dangerous weapon.
D.C. police say it all started when a woman cut off the bus about 6:05 p.m. Thursday in the 1800 block of Bladensburg Road NE, near the U.S. National Arboretum. The bus and her car then sideswiped each other.
The bus driver tried to talk with the woman.
"You're a crazy driver. You need to get off the road," the driver said, according to a police report.
The woman then opened her trunk and pulled out a bat. She started to slam it at the bus, cracking the windshield.
Video then shows the woman, wearing a crop top, going back to the trunk of her light-colored Audi with D.C. plates. As cars honk around her, she pulls out a jack and uses it to smash the driver's side window.
She puts the jack back into the trunk and gets into the car. A middle-aged man with a cellphone to his ear blocks her path. He's the bus driver, according to the police report.
Suddenly, the woman drives toward the bus driver, rolling him onto the hood. People on the bus can be heard shouting.
"She's going to f---ing jail!" one woman shouts.
A man tries to intervene, telling the woman to leave the bus driver alone.
"He f---ed up my whole car," she responds.
A young man can be seen trying to soothe the woman.
"Calm down, baby girl," he says.
But she drives at the bus driver again, rolling him onto the hood as police sirens seem to approach.
The young man tries to get the bus driver out of harm's way, but he doesn't budge.
"Just move from out the car so you don't get hurt," the man says.
The woman then drives at the bus driver a third time, speeding up this time. The force throws him off the hood, just feet from a tire of the moving car.
This time, people yell at the man.
"Why would you jump in front of the car like that?" a woman screams.
"She was gonna get away with it," the driver replies.
Multiple people ask him if he's OK.
A man can be heard saying, "I have everything recorded." Then the video cuts out.
The woman sped off southbound onto Bladensburg Road.
The driver left with pain in his hip and bruises and scratches to his elbow, police said.
Seth Silver said he hopes his niece can get help.
"I pray that everybody will understand she’s a young girl. Everybody makes mistakes," he said.
Mariana Silver is due back in court Sept. 18.
