BART General Manager Issues Apology To Man Cited For Eating Sandwich At Station
OAKLAND (CBS SF) — BART General Manager Bob Powers issued a statement Monday morning apologizing to the man who was cited last week for eating a sandwich on the Pleasant Hill station platform.
The apology came in the wake of widespread criticism the agency and its police department received over the man being handcuffed and cited by a BART police officer during the confrontation.
The incident happened on Monday, November 4, at around 8 a.m. on the platform at the Pleasant Hill BART station when the officer reportedly went to the platform to look for a woman who was reportedly drunk.
While looking for the woman, he spotted a man eating a breakfast sandwich and asked him to stop. After being unable to find the woman, the officer passed by the rider, who was still eating the sandwich despite the request that he stop.
The officer then proceeded with writing the citation, handcuffing the man — who was later identified as Steven Foster — and saying he was resisting arrest and being detained for not cooperating. Video of the incident posted on social media led to an avalanche of criticism over the officer's actions.
In the statement issued, Powers noted, "As a transportation system our concern with eating is related to the cleanliness of our stations and system. This was not the case in the incident at Pleasant Hill station on Monday."
