LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville man pleaded not guilty Wednesday morning to charges that he attacked a bus driver with Jefferson County Public Schools.
Cecil Snowden, 41, was arraigned Wednesday morning on a third-degree assault charge. He was taken into custody Tuesday night.
Authorities say he attacked Timothy Raeber, a JCPS bus driver on Aug. 28.Â
According to an arrest warrant, two female students -- one of whom was Snowden's daughter -- got into an argument on a bus at Eastern High School. As a result, Snowden's daughter was taken off the bus by school staff shortly before the bus left school property.
When the bus stopped at the corner of South 9th Street and West Chestnut Street, authorities say a man got on the bus "screaming and yelling" and demanding to know who put "his sister" off the bus.
The JCPS bus drivers union has identified that man as the brother of the female student who was taken off the bus.
The man refused to get off the bus, despite Raeber's insistence that he disembark, authorities say. That's when, according to the arrest warrant, the man punched Raeber in the face.
The pair stumbled off the bus, when authorities say Snowden joined in the fight and began attacking the bus driver, punching him in the face.
JCPS documents obtained by WDRB News through an Open Records Request contain the bus driver's account of what happened.
The driver says the girl's brother, "then punched me in the chin. I returned a punch and followed him off the bus. At the bottom of the steps, a second person was waiting and hit me in the face on the right side when I turned my attention to him, the brother then hit me in the face on the left side."
Raeber was able to get back on the bus, as was the girl's brother. Authorities say the attacker was "screaming and yelling," and allegedly told students on the bus "not to mess with him."
Raeber said he was bloody when he got back on the bus. He then called the compound, and the union says Raeber finished his route before going to the hospital.
He says he had a "concussion, severely bruised jaw and nose, black eye, cut to nose, bruised chin, and temporary loss of hearing in his left ear due to swelling." The arrest warrant says he also sustained a back injury.
JCPS Security took out a warrant on Sept. 11 for the arrests of Snowden and his alleged accomplice.Â
The bus union says Raeber hasn't been back to work since the attack, and it doesn't know when Raeber will return to work.
It's not clear if Snowden's alleged accomplice is in custody at this time.
Snowden pleaded not guilty to the charge on Wednesday morning, during his arraignment. His bond was set at $10,000, and he was ordered to have no contact with the victim.
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