Charges were filed Monday in a November attack in which a man's tongue was nearly severed when a fellow bus passenger kicked him in the head on a Route 16 Metro Transit bus.

Jeremiah T. Hudson, 31, was charged Monday in Ramsey County District Court with third-degree assault for allegedly kicking the victim on Nov. 30 in the face after the victim tried to make change for a woman who was with Hudson.

According to the complaint, surveillance video from the bus provided this account of the incident: Hudson boarded about 10:13 p.m. at University Avenue and Milton Street. He was accompanied by a woman and a child. The woman asked passengers whether anyone had change for a dollar. Hudson paid his fare with an electronic card.

A man sitting near the front began looking for change. Hudson, the woman and the child sat together near the front.

After the man approached them to make change, Hudson said they didn't need it and "waved him off."

The man stood in the aisle, and Hudson stood up and began taunting him without any provocation, the complaint said.

The man sat back down, but Hudson continued his "rant," according to the complaint, telling the man not to look at him or at "my girl.''

Hudson then kicked the man in the face, causing his head to snap backward into the bus window, according to bus surveillance video.

The man's tongue was nearly severed, according to the complaint, which did not provide an update on his recovery.

Hudson opened a rear emergency window and fled, said Drew Kerr, a Metro Transit spokesman. The bus was traveling west on University Avenue and was stopped at Hamline Avenue after the assault.

"For every 100,000 rides in the transit system, there are approximately seven crimes, the majority of which are nuisance or quality-of-life crimes," Kerr said.

Hudson was convicted last June of disorderly conduct. Court records in that case indicate that he was "yelling, screaming, swearing in the middle of [a] courtyard saying he wanted to kill someone for messing with his family [for two hours], waking and disrupting numerous neighbors." He was sentenced to one year of probation in that incident.

Hudson has a long criminal history that includes convictions for domestic abuse and criminal damage to property.

Chao Xiong • 612-270-4708

Twitter: @ChaoStrib