Bus Driver Says He Was Stabbed By Unruly Passenger In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNwYork) -- A bus driver said he was stabbed by a man demanding to be let off the bus in the Bronx this week.
CBS2's Alice Gainer talked with Westchester County Bee-Line bus driver Ronald Dingman, who said he was stabbed three times in the horrifying Thursday incident.
"I didn't see it coming," Dingman said. "I felt it."
Dingman said he could have been seriously injured.
"It just missed my lung -- the deep one; the deep stab," Dingman said. "That's the one I felt."
Dingman said it all started when the man demanded to be let off the bus – even though the bus was not at or near a stop.
"He wanted to get off in the Bronx, which, I had already left the bus stop, so I couldn't let him out until the next bus stop," Dingman said. "But he didn't want to hear that."
So he said the man started hitting him and yelling at him before pulling out the knife.
Essomba Prosper works at a store along Jerome Avenue in the Bronx where the bus stopped. Prosper said he could hear the passengers inside yelling.
"People were screaming: 'He have a knife! He have a knife! He stabbed the driver! He stabbed the driver!'" Prosper said.
Prosper's co-worker captured the arrest of West Akpan, 33, in connection with the stabbing. When the bus stopped, police were waiting.
Dingman, 50, received five stitches at a nearby hospital and was on medical leave as of Friday.
He was grateful to the passengers who came to his aid.
"They were, instantly jumped on their phones to call 911 and stuff," he said. "Some of them ran; were pulling out paper towels and napkins so they could put it on the spot that was bleeding."
Akpan was arraigned Friday morning and will be back in court March 10. He was charged with assault, criminal possession of a weapon, and harassment.
