MTA bus driver says she was brutally attacked and beaten by passenger in Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, New York (WABC) – A New York City bus driver is speaking out after she was attacked by a passenger in Brooklyn, a disturbing crime that is just one of three attacks on city bus drivers in recent days.

The bus driver, who did not want her name made public, said she was injured by a belligerent passenger Friday morning as she was near the end of her route in Brooklyn.

“Nobody rang the bell. So the guy stands up and says, ‘You passed my stop, can you let me off?'” the victim said.

She tried to explain that she couldn’t do that.

“And before I could finish, I got a punch in the face and kept driving,” she said. “I have to make sure I don’t have an accident and the safety of the people on the bus is guaranteed.”

Then, she says, he used swear words and threatened to kill her.

“So I stopped and opened the door because I was thinking about my beloved children who I wanted to go home to,” the victim said.

The next day, the driver of another bus in Brooklyn was injured on the job. The attacker in that incident is also still at large.

The driver was supposed to speak at a press conference held by his union about an alleged increase in attacks on his members, but he was unable to make it because he was still in too much pain.

“We have experienced a number of attacks on many of our employees,” said Richard Davis, president of TWU Local 100. “Just this morning, one of our conductors was punched in the face.”

The union said another conductor was beaten on the job on Monday. It said it was glad that the NYPD had increased its presence on the subways, but said the same was needed on the buses.

“We are not the public’s whipping boy. And at some point something is going to happen and transit workers are going to march with their feet, and I’m going to stand with them,” said John Paul Patafio, vice president of TWU Local 100.

According to the NYPD, attacks on transit workers fell by about half in the first quarter of this year compared to last year, but the union stresses that the city and the MTA must not let up in their vigilance measures.

“Because assaults are going down, they’re going down, they think it’s OK now,” Davis said. “No, it’s not OK. If one of our members gets hurt, we all get hurt. An injury to one is an injury to all of us.”

“I really love my job. And I just want to go home,” said the bus driver.

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