Christopher Schwable allegedly pulled knife on DeLand boy at school bus stop — before passing driver hit him with a toolbox

A DeLand man allegedly grabbed a 13-year-old boy by the throat at a school bus stop before a passing driver stopped him with a toolbox, police said.

Christopher Steven Schwable, 36, is from DeLand, Florida, according to records.

The encounter took place on an ordinary Tuesday morning in January, according to authorities.

A group of children were standing at their bus stop waiting to be picked up, police said.

A man walked up the sidewalk toward them, according to reports.

The 13-year-old boy plainly described what happened next afterward.

“He approaches me and starts saying some stuff that I didn’t understand, and then, he grabbed me and pulled his knife out,” the boy said, adding, “He tried hitting me and punching me a bunch.”

A driver passing by saw a grown man with his hands around the child’s throat, police said.

The motorist made a U-turn, pulled over, and got out of his vehicle, according to accounts.

Schwable turned on him next, allegedly pulling a folding knife from his sleeve, police said.

The driver grabbed a toolbox from his own vehicle and struck the suspect with it, authorities said.

He pinned Schwable to the ground and held him there until DeLand police arrived.

The boy got away from the scene and was not seriously hurt, police said.

His sister said afterward that he was mostly just shaken. She noted that he was “probably a little paranoid because it was unprovoked.”

Schwable was charged with aggravated assault and a felony count of aggravated child abuse, records show.

The 36-year-old had been arrested in December and spent more than three weeks in jail before his release on bond on January 13. The alleged bus stop attack occurred seven days later.

The driver who stopped him did not stay anonymous for long. The city later honored him publicly for it.