DART driver helps 15-year-old girl escape from abusive situation

DALLAS - A 15-year-old who was trying to escape a physically and in other ways abusive situation found help from a DART Paratransit driver.

Video shows the teen girl with all of her belongings on the DART Paratransit van with driver Josiah Davis.

Davis sheltered her until help arrived.

DART began working to raise awareness about human trafficking back in 2015, becoming a partner with the National Safe Place Program.

This is, they believe, the very first rescue that a DART employee has been involved in.

“I was actually just filling up my van because I needed gas to continue on with the rest of my route for the day,” Davis recalled.

Davis, who is a paratransit driver working for DART through a contractor, stopped for gas at a QuikTrip on Forest Lane back on Dec. 27, and became a savior.

“A young lady walked to me. She had like a purple drawstring bag, and she was asking can she request a safe place with me,” Davis said.

“The Safe Place Program is a national program. It’s designed for youth. It gives them an opportunity

When they find themselves in distress in a situation where they don’t know where to go. Could be abuse, could be domestic violence,” explained David Sheppard, with MV Transportation. “Through our partnerships with the local school districts, they're communicating this message to the students. Letting them know, look for [the Safe Place Program] symbol. This symbol is a place that you can go to get help.”

The Safe Place logo is on every piece of DART equipment. Every bus, every van, every train, and all DART employees and contract workers have been trained on what to do in an urgent situation.

“I actually freaked out because we went over it in training and it’s one of those things you think you'd never have to use or utilize, or you just think it would never happen to you,” Davis said.

Davis, who had been on the job for only two months, put the teen in his van. A dash-mounted camera sent live images of the encounter back to the contractor's control center.

“So I actually ended up calling my network supervisor, who's also my pops, and asked him what do I do. Now I’m freaking out,” Davis recalled.

“I’m glowing. He did perfect for me and for the company. He did the perfect thing the entire process,” said Charles Harper, who is a supervisor for Big Star Network.

Harper is proud that his son remembered his training.

“You want to make sure that you reach out to dispatch so that they're aware of the situation so that MV supervisors can be on the scene. And then he's going to call Big Star Transit, which is a provider for the MV Transportation and DART network, and our network manager, Raven Carroll, immediately went to the scene,” Haper added.

Before the supervisor arrived, Davis doggedly watched his surroundings.

“Just in case, if anybody was actually looking for her or if I seen suspicious characters looking at my van, looking for her,” Davis added. “So I didn't know what the situation was, so I was just being really observant to make sure.”

“With our live camera feed, I went in and looked at what was actually going on,” safety and training supervisor Robert Weest said. “I was able to tell, I recorded it.”

Weest recommended that Davis be honored for what he did.

“He possibly saved somebody's life out there that afternoon,” Weest added.

Saturday is Human Trafficking Awareness Day.

Sex trafficking is one of the world's fastest growing criminal industries, and there are events planned here in Dallas to raise awareness.