LONG BRANCH -- A school bus driver and aide for a Neptune bus company are being lauded as heroes for rescuing two teenage girls from an attacker last week while working their bus route in the city.

It was about 3 p.m. last Wednesday when Jose, a school bus driver for the Seman Tov Bus Company, and Nate, an aide for the company, saw a teenage girl being attacked by a man near Prospect Street film izle and Bath Avenue. Jose and Nate -- who requested their last names be withheld -- were on their bus route dropping off middle school students home.

The alleged attacker, 27-year-old Daniel Omar Mejia-Reyes, who lives on Bath Avenue, was arrested and charged with robbery, sexual assault, and related charges, according to a statement from police.

Officials say Mejia-Reyes attempted to steal the cellphones of two teenage girls and tried to take another teenage girl with him. The girls were all between the age of 12 and 14 years old, and the three incidents, police said, all occurred within a few minutes of one another.

N.J. bus driver, aide rescue 2 teenage girls from attacker

While near Prospect Street and Bath Avenue, Jose and Nate saw a teenage girl trying to get away from Mejia-Reyes.

"We noticed a young lady struggling to get away from a guy who had a hold of her," said Jose, 33, of Long Branch. "I had to make a U-turn, and she had gotten away."

The girl began running down the street toward the bus, crying.

"I pulled the bus over, and I asked her, 'Are you OK? Do you know that man? Do you need help?'" he recalled. "She was crying, she said, 'No, I don't know him, he took my phone.' Me and Nate quickly brought her on the bus."

Nate, 38, also of Long Branch, radioed the dispatcher, 25-year-old Mac Swed, of Long Branch, who then contacted police.

Then, within just a minute, while parked on the side of Prospect Street, the two men saw Mejia-Reyes jump out from behind bushes in the front yard of a home and grab another teenage girl walking by.

"Nate starts yelling, 'He's got her! He's got her!'" Jose recalled. "And she's yelling, 'Help me, help me!' He starts pulling her back from behind, and we exited the bus."

Nate yelled at Mejia-Reyes, who ultimately let the girl go. The girl then ran to Nate, crying.

"She said, 'I don't know what's wrong with him,' Nate said, who noted that Mejia-Reyes didn't flee, but instead stood there wearing a blank expression.

"He was just standing, looking at us," he recalled. "It was creepy."

By that time police officers arrived and arrested Mejia-Reyes.

Mejia-Reyes was charged with robbery, criminal restraint, aggravated criminal sexual contact and sexual assault, according to a statement from police. He was held at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution without bail. He was also held on an immigration detainer for allegedly being an unauthorized U.S. resident, the statement said.

"The police responded very quickly," Jose said.

Jose, who has three young girls, and Nate, who has a young boy and a young girl, said they were just grateful no one was injured.

"We work with kids every day," Jose said. "We build a relationship with them, a friendship. And it's basically more than a job for us. We get to know these kids all year round. And even though it wasn't one of our students on the bus, it's still a child."

"Everyone involved, including the bus aide, driver, and student, should be commended,"  Jason Roebuck, director of Public Safety for Long Branch, said in the statement. 

He said anyone with further information to contact Det. Jake Pascucci at 732-222-1000.

Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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