LAUDERDALE LAKES, Fla. – A man accused of throwing a rock at a bus, shattering the windshield, was arrested Thursday after his mother saw surveillance video on TV and turned him in.
Demetrius Vidale, 19, of Fort Lauderdale, is accused of being the Santa hat-wearing man who broke a bus window on Nov. 18.
The Broward Sheriff's Office released surveillance video Wednesday that showed a man in a red Adidas sweat suit and a Santa hat on a Broward County bus. Police said the driver asked the man and his friend to stop using profanity, but they would not stop.
"Called him a 'cracker,' called the driver a (expletive), told her to get off the phone, called her a -- I'm not going to say it, but just called her a 'cracker,'" Judge John Hurley said in court Friday.
The driver kicked the man in the Santa hat off the bus in the 2600 block of Northwest 49th Avenue, police said. He then threw a rock at the bus, hitting the passenger side of the windshield, according to investigators.
In court, Vidale tried to explain his actions.
"It was a big misunderstanding," Vidale said.
BSO received several Crime Stoppers tips about the incident, and Vidale's mother turned him in at BSO's Main Jail about 9:10 p.m. Thursday.
Vidale faces charges of throwing a deadly missile into an occupied bus and criminal mischief. He is being held on $8,500 bond.
At the time of the incident, Vidale was out of jail on bond after being arrested on charges of dealing stolen property. This is his third arrest in the past two months.