Bus driver stabbed in B’klyn
Hurt in clash with rider who forced way on board between stops
A Brooklyn MTA bus driver was stabbed in the stomach early Tuesday during a clash with a passenger who forced his way on board between stops, NYPD and union officials said.
The 39-year-old victim was operating a shuttle bus for passengers left stranded by overnight repairs on the Q line when the attacker forced open the back doors near Ocean and Flatbush Aves. in Prospect Lefferts Gardens about 12:30 a.m., cops said.
The shuttle bus is only allowed to pick up passengers at Q train stations and was in between stops when the passenger boarded, damaging the back doors.
The damage forced the driver to take the bus out of service. He ejected the intruder, who quickly came back brandishing a knife, MTA union officials said.
As the two fought, the passenger, described as a man in his 30s, stabbed the driver in the stomach and slashed him in the face, leaving a deep cut above one eye, cops said.
Medics rushed the bus driver to New York-Presbyterian Hospital Brooklyn Methodist, where he is expected to recover.
“He’s sitting up and talking,” said Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano, who visited the driver in the hospital. “His family is with him. He’s obviously shaken up but is dealing [with] the trauma the best he can.”
The attacker jumped off the bus and was last seen running toward Empire Blvd. He has not been caught.
Local 100 officials said the attacker deserves the “maximum penalty under the law.”
Local 100 head of buses JP Patafio said Tuesday’s attack highlights the need for more precautions to ensure bus driver safety.
“We missed a tragedy by inches,” said Patafio during an press
conference outside Brooklyn Methodist Hospital. “There is a deep frustration and anger that has welled up. We’re tired of
coming to work scared. Either we get the protection we need, or Brooklyn won’t get the service they need.”
Patafio has repeatedly called for dedicated driver cockpits that would separate the driver from passengers as well as the return of dedicated transit police on the buses.
“The transit authority has to improve the safety mechanisms on these buses,” he said. “They want to make the bus fleet fully electric by 2040, but the safety of bus operators is more important than electrification. Every new bus should come with a fully protected compartment for bus operators.”
“It’s par for the course,” Alexander Kemp, a 12-year veteran MTA bus driver said about Tuesday’s attack. “Your job is to drive the bus. This is a [multi]-thousand pound machine. It’s an immense task. It’s not your role [to stop violent passengers].”
Kemp, who is also a rep for Local 100, said assaults like this make it difficult to hire new drivers.
“It’s not as glorious of a job as it used to be,” Kemp said.