Community Corner
Bus Driver Who Found Missing Piedmont Autistic Boy to Be Honored
The boy had traveled several miles on his scooter. The driver spotted him near Lake Merritt.
PIEDMONT, CA - The Alameda-Contra Costa Transit board of directors will honor a bus driver who helped reunite a missing 7-year-old autistic boy with his family.
On the morning of April 30, the boy, Danny Eichberg, had traveled several miles from his family's home in Piedmont, heading to Lake Merritt in Oakland on his scooter, AC Transit officials said.
At about 9:30 a.m. that day, bus driver Ari Megaro was traveling on Grand Avenue near Harrison Street, not far from the lake, when he saw a small boy, who appeared to be alone, on a foot-powered scooter riding on the sidewalk alongside his Line 12 bus, according to AC Transit officials.
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Passengers alerted Megaro that they had noticed the boy several miles back as they waited to board the bus.
Megaro brought his coach to a safe stop then, using a calm demeanor, engaged the boy in conversation about their mutual love for skateboards, AC Transit officials said.
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Danny's parents, who had notified police of his disappearance, had taught him how to spell his parents' names and his full address.
That information was important to Alameda County sheriff's deputies, who then searched for the Eichbergs on Facebook.
After locating Danny's mother's Facebook page, deputies showed her profile picture to the 7 year-old boy and were able to make a positive identification and reunite him with his family.
"We are incredibly grateful to the AC Transit passengers for noticing our son and sharing their concerns with the operator and to Mr. Megaro for taking the initiative to intervene and ensure his safety," Michael Eichberg, Danny's father, said in a statement.
"Children on the autism spectrum like Danny are part of our community, and having people who are aware of and on the look-out for them will ultimately make all children safer," Eichberg said.
AC Transit board president H. E. Christian Peeples said, "I am immensely proud of the fact that the AC Transit family and in particular one of our operators was able to return a child to his family."
--Bay City News; Image via WikiMedia Commons