One Year Later, Search Continues For Suspect Who Attacked Bus Driver In The Bronx
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A bus driver was brutally beaten by a passenger.
It happened a year ago, but the suspect has not been caught.
CBS2's Alice Gainer spoke with the driver Thursday in the Eastchester section of the Bronx.
"All I remember was just praying, just asking God, 'please, don't let me get knocked out,'" Denver Thompson said.
This was the first time he'd seen video of the assault, which happened at Light Street and Dyre Avenue around 9:40 a.m. last August.
"Oh my god, I mean my heart is like racing right now. Totally defenseless at this point, and he was just wailing," he said.
Thompson said the man entered the bus in the back and he explained the man needed to enter and pay up front when things escalated.
He said he suffered a brain concussion and two surgeries – one on his shoulder, the other on his wrist. He still hasn't been able to return to work.
"I forget things. I have to think about things. I get up, you know sitting down from one place, by the time I go to where I intended to go, I forget everything – headaches," he said.
He can't do the things he used to love to do with his four sons, ranging in age from nine to 22, like riding bikes.
"All I can do pretty much now is just sit around and watch them do things," he said.
The transport workers union put out a poster Thursday, showing the suspects wanted in four different attacks on bus drivers, a subway conductor and subway cleaner. The first photo shows the man wanted in Thompson's attack.
"I'm a Christian man. I hope he changed his ways and he's a better person. You know, I'm pretty sure he knows what he did. So you know, turn yourself in or if not, I hope you're a better person," he said.
Though he would like to get back to work, he said after more than 20 years on the job and this most recent attack, he wouldn't recommend this occupation to his own kids.
Thompson said he was attacked once before many years ago, but it wasn't as bad as this.
