Bus driver crashes after assault

A Metro Transit bus driver was punched in the face and lost control of the bus after he asked six rowdy teen passengers to settle down as he drove in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. It's at least the 13th assault on a Metro Transit driver so far this year.

The driver crashed into a traffic light pole and was taken to Hennepin County Medical Center, where he was treated for bruising around one of his eyes, Metro Transit spokesman Bob Gibbons said Friday.

Michelle Sommers, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1005, the union that represents nearly 1,500 transit workers, said the incident shows security on buses should be stepped up.

"I think this accident shows us that if a driver is assaulted while driving the bus, it affects a whole lot of people," Sommers said. "Not just the driver but you have the people on the bus and, potentially, the people on the sidewalk."

The assailants fled the scene, but police arrested two teens a short time after the incident was reported at 11:05 p.m. Thursday. They were taken to the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center and are expected to be charged with felony assault. Four teens remained at large Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Teens wouldn't behave

The driver, who was not identified, told police the teens had been acting up on the Route 22 bus as it headed north on Cedar Avenue. The route also serves downtown, north Minneapolis and Brooklyn Center.

The driver had asked them to behave and said he would call police if they didn't settle down. As the driver dialed the phone, one of the juveniles struck him in the face, Gibbons said.

The bus went out of control and crashed into a traffic signal near Cedar and Washington Avenues.

It was not immediately clear where the teens boarded the bus and how many other passengers were on the bus when it crashed.

Another attack in July

While assaults on bus drivers are not common, this is not the first time a group of teens has attacked a Metro Transit driver this year. In July a group of six to eight teens beat up a driver on a Route 68 bus in downtown St. Paul. In that case the driver spent a few days in the hospital.

Sommers said more officers are needed in the city's Metro Transit police. The department now employs 60 full-time officers and 60 part-time officers.

Gibbons agreed that more officers would be ideal, but added that the number of hours that officers ride on board buses has increased fivefold this year. It's a likely contributor to the expected drop in assaults; there were 38 incidents recorded in 2006 and 31 last year.

Metro Transit records show 12 assaults reported by drivers between January and July. Two involved passengers spitting on the driver; the rest were physical. Eight people have been arrested in connection with the assaults, Gibbons said. Though figures from July to now were not available Friday, Gibbons said there were no serious incidents until Thursday.

Investigators will be looking at video from the bus to determine what led to the most recent attack, Gibbons said.

Incident caught on camera

Every Metro Transit bus has at least one camera, and newer buses have multiple cameras and a digital recording system that provides clear video. The bus in Thursday's incident had an older system in which only one camera connected to a video cassette recorder works at a time and usually provides grainer video.

Sommers said drivers are allowed to carry Mace if they complete a course, but are not allowed to carry other self-defense weapons. They're only likely to escalate a bad situation, she said. Self-defense training for bus drivers would also be ideal.

"There are small things that can be done, but short of having a police officer on every bus, you can't possibly predict when and where things are going to happen," she said. "You can go months as a driver where you never have any problems and it's a wonderful job, then the next day you're out there and it seems that everything's happening."

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