MARTA: “Soulja Girl” video suspect arrested
May 13, 2008 at 11:30 am by Thomas Wheatley in NewsIn regards to the infamous YouTube video, MARTA has finally released a statement on the arrest of a female who allegedly verbally assaulted a fellow rail passenger.
Statement from MARTA Chief of Police Wanda Dunham:
MARTA police have arrested the individual who was allegedly involved in a verbal assault on a rail customer. A video of the incident, which MARTA police have determined occurred on March 10, 2008, was recently posted on the Internet. Nafiza Ziyad, 25, is being held in DeKalb County jail and has been charged with Simple Assault, two counts of Certain Acts in Transit and Disorderly Conduct. The arrest late Thursday, May 8, 2008 came after MARTA officials were able to interview the actual victim of the train harassment.
When this incident was brought to our attention, we immediately began tracking down any and all leads to ensure that this person was brought to justice. This arrest was the result of hard work and relentless follow-up by the Criminal Investigations Division of the MARTA police as well as invaluable tips and assistance from the public. MARTA is working closely with DeKalb County Solicitor-General Robert James to prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law.
I want to reiterate that this is an extremely isolated incident and that customer safety and security are our highest priorities. We regret that the many citizens who witnessed this incident did not utilize the emergency call button that is available in all rail cars to directly contact the rail operator or contact MARTA police so that we could have responded to this situation immediately. MARTA police officers regularly patrol the trains and are available at rail stations to provide assistance. Customers can also reach MARTA Police communications directly by dialing (404) 848-4911 or by pressing #MPD on any AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint/Nextel cellular phone. Blackberry users press #673.
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May 13th, 2008 at 3:28 pm
Now that a rider-generated video has proven useful in protecting “customer safety and security,” I wonder if Marta will loosen up it’s Byzantine photo/video policies:
http://itsmarta.com/newsroom/photo_policy.htm
Technically, the person who shot the video that led to this public safety success story was breaking Marta’s own needlessly restrictive rules against taking photos on Marta property.
May 14th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
I ride marta to and from work and i know how crazy riders can get but this really takes the cake. the young lady should be prosecuted. Also i say shame on all of you who sat by and did nothing.just think if that was your mother!!!This is the type of thing that makes me angrey with my race.
June 15th, 2008 at 7:16 pm
Just a matter of time till they let her out and same thing over and over again. Its really nothing unusual on MARTA things like that happen daily… this time it got taped and got some wind.
June 24th, 2008 at 10:05 am
She should be prosecuted for a much more serious crime. I’m no lawyer but she did threaten to kill the lady. Her illness is no excuse if she doesn’t take the medicine given to avoid these outbreaks. So because she chose not to take care of herself innocent people have to suffer?