Police Search For Man Accused Of Assaulting MTA Bus Driver With Hot Coffee
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) - Police are searching for a suspect accused of assaulting a city bus driver Thursday morning.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said a bus driver was assaulted in Brooklyn around 8:30 a.m., the most recent incident involving the assault of a bus driver.
According to the MTA, the driver operating the B67 bus asked a man who was getting a cup of coffee to move his car, which was parked near the intersection of 7th Avenue and Prospect Avenue.
The driver became irate, according to the MTA, and hurled his hot coffee at the driver.
The man then got in his car and fled the scene, according to the agency. The driver was treated at the scene by EMS.
"The MTA needs to recognize that whatever steps they've taken thus far are simply not working, the NYPD for whatever reason is not putting a sufficient amount of uniformed cops on our bus system and in our transit system to protect both customers and transit workers," Transit Workers Union President John Samuelson told 1010 WINS. "In light of the fact that the NYPD is not policing the buses properly I believe that the MTA should use their own police force. There is an MTA police force that has police powers within the City of New York."
The transit agency said it has installed cameras on 650 buses and has installed partitions on nearly that many buses, with more coming.
The MTA also said it has plans in the next few months to double the number of its NYC Transit Security to patrol buses and work with the NYPD to cut down on these incidents.
"The MTA should load up our buses with MTA police to provide a uniformed deterrent that would protect our operators and it would also protect transit riders and as an added bonus it would also decrease the amount of fare evasion that happens day in and day out," Samuelson said. "The MTA needs to rapidly expedite the installation of partitions. They have the money to do it. They need to start protecting their own employees."
This is the third reported attack on a bus driver in just the past week.
Just a few days ago, Mark Anthony Salandy was driving the B68 bus also in Windsor Terrace when he was stabbed with a syringe.
Last week, Bronx bus driver Nelson Diaz was assaulted when he confronted a man about not paying the fare.
Does the MTA need to do more to protect bus drivers, or are these just isolated incidents? Please share your comments below.
