A The video is being broadcasted Social media captured the moments a bus driver was stabbed by a passenger in Willowbrook on Saturday night as other passengers watched.
The driver survived and is recovering at home, but the incident has raised concerns about the safety of Metro bus drivers and passengers. The attack came 24 hours after an argument between passengers, which resulted in a man being stabbed to death 70 year old man on bus In Silver Lake and less than a month later another man hijacked and crashed A bus in downtown Los Angeles.
Metro’s security chief, who was recently fired after filing a complaint Inspector General of Agencysays law enforcement is not doing enough to prosecute those responsible for such crimes, and the local union representing drivers said they are concerned about the safety of their members.
“It has to stop, it has to stop,” said John Ellis, who represents six union locals of 5,000 bus and rail operators who work for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. “There are people who are afraid to go to work.”
Ellis is working with Metro to design a fully enclosed protective barrier that could prevent such attacks, but he says the process has taken too long.
“There’s a lot of red tape out there and some of it could be eliminated,” he said.
As metro ridership has increased, so has the number of attacks on its bus and train operators – 168 in 2023, a marginal increase from the previous year. The attacks included spitting and stabbing.
The figures outline a clear national trend. Transit workers have been attacked tripled in the last 15 yearsAccording to research from the Urban Institute, it has become more difficult for public agencies to recruit and retain their staff.
“This is devastating,” said Lindiwe Rennert, a senior research fellow at the think tank. “Going into a work environment where you fear for your well-being. No one should have to deal with this, especially someone who is a public servant.
Reinert reviewed federal data between 2008 and 2022 and found that the number of deaths resulting from attacks or medical transport increased from 168 to 492 nationwide.
He said Metro ranks sixth among transit agencies in terms of attacks. The country’s busiest transit agency, in New York, At the top of the list. When Rennert compared economic and social variables he found that there was a statistically significant relationship between attacks on transit workers and both income inequality and civil unrest.
He said eliminating rent could help reduce stress. But Rennert cautions against flooding areas with law enforcement, a move that often temporarily reduces crime but does not provide a long-term solution.
“You’ll see a drop in the number of assaults in places where police and law enforcement are there momentarily, and then when they leave, the count goes up again,” he said.
What was not included in the limited federal data was the extent of violence or battery committed on transit workers. The new standards will require agencies to report a wide range of attacks should they be uncovered in the coming year.
in Los Angeles, a log of attacks On Bus and Rail Operators, regularly submitted to the Metro Board, details some of the abuses endured by bus drivers.
In January alone, a man attempted to rape a bus driver in Culver City; A passenger bit a bus driver because they did not stop and then sprayed pepper spray at security in El Monte; And at 7th and Alvarado streets, a bus driver got into an altercation with a passenger after he asked a woman and her young children to stop cursing. The man lunged at the driver several times, before the driver caught him and punched him. The suspect bit the driver on the chest and ran away.
“These are ultraviolent examples but unfortunately it’s par for the course,” Reinert said. “Sexual assaults and stabbings are the types of attacks we hear about across the country.”
Metro’s recently fired security chief and security officer, Gina Osborn, a former FBI agent, has been critical of the law enforcement agencies contracted with Metro. According to his calculations, despite having cameras on buses, the Los Angeles Police Department and County Sheriff’s Department have presented less than 30% of the assault cases to the District Attorney or City Attorney.
“To me, this is the most serious one,” Osborne said. “There’s no coordination, no cooperation, no searching to make sure this person doesn’t come back tomorrow.”
He pointed to a hijacking incident last month in Downtown LA, where a man armed with an airsoft gun forced the driver to take a bus to several locations before crashing it into the Ritz-Carlton hotel. When she asked law enforcement officials if the suspect was the same person killed in a similar incident a week earlier, she said they did not know.
LAPD Deputy Chief Donald Graham, who oversees the Transit Services Bureau, said Osborn fails to understand the complexities of local police agencies, including which cases are prosecuted and which charges are prosecuted. He said he expects his team to present the case to prosecutors every time an arrest is made.
He points out that as of Sunday, Part 1 crime on buses, trains and stations in areas patrolled by the LAPD – which includes murders, violent assaults and robberies – is down 41% so far this year compared to the same period last year. went.
He said the agency is working quickly with other law enforcement agencies, Metro Security and ambassadors to identify the suspects. Weapons and narcotics-related arrests have increased, and in the transit system since January 1, the LAPD has arrested 904 people for trespassing — often for not carrying the TAP cards required to board trains or buses.
Captain Shawn R. of the Sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau. Kehoe said the sheriff’s department solved 15 of the 54 bus driver assaults reported in its jurisdiction last year and filed with the district attorney’s office.
“Our current clearance rate is 27%,” he said. “We take every crime seriously. Our Transit Services Bureau detectives are assigned to solely investigate public transit crimes and investigate each crime as thoroughly as possible using all available resources.
Metro’s executive board is grappling with this policing issues Over the years on thousands of metro buses, trains and stations. While social justice activists are calling on the board to reduce the number of armed officers, employees are concerned about safety. contract cost Law enforcement is ramping up, and Metro is considering whether to create its own police force.
Osborne, who supports the idea of a metro police agency, acknowledges that prosecutors might not have done anything to prevent the latest attack. But he said there is a general malaise when it comes to policing transit.
Since last year, the Metro has increased the number of security officers patrolling buses on lines where attacks have occurred. Law enforcement agencies also have dedicated units to patrol the buses.
The driver who was stabbed on Saturday night has been with the agency since 2022.
Deputies who reviewed the bus video identified Darnell M. Bray as a possible suspect. The 30-year-old man was released from prison last year after serving a 16-year sentence for carjacking, robbery and kidnapping and violating his parole.
“We don’t want anything else to happen to another bus driver,” said Sheriff’s Det. Matthew Frazo, who is investigating the case and has asked for the public’s help in locating Bray.
a video from a traveler behind the bus on line 53 Was posted on Instagram and Facebook this week.
For most of the recording, the camera is pointed towards the floor but the collision can be heard.
“Get off the bus,” the suspect demanded, before taunting the driver. “Are you scared, brother?”
There was an uproar. Then the bus driver begs for mercy.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry. Apologize. Sorry,” he says. Then he bursts into tears. According to Frajo, he was punched in the face with a brass knuckle and then stabbed in the chest. “Help me, help me, help me!” he wails.
The short video clip ends abruptly, as the passenger taking the video flees out the back door. Frajo said the attacker ran down the road and the driver got out of the bus and went in the other direction to look for help.
A good Samaritan picked him up and took him to Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital. The driver, who has not been identified, is now recovering at home.
Metro spokesperson Jose Ubaldo said, “Metro is saddened to hear about this senseless act of violence against our bus operator, clearly motivated by drug abuse and untreated mental illness – crises that continue to plague our country. Are.”
Frajo said the suspect is being sought for attempted murder and a possible hate crime.
When the attacker, who is Black, boarded the bus a block or two earlier, he was yelling about how people like bus drivers, who are Latino, were taking away “their jobs,” Frajo said.
