Assaulted Port Authority Bus Driver Recalls Attack

Bus Passenger, 19, Arrested In Clairton

POSTED: 9:57 pm EST March 9, 2010
UPDATED: 12:02 am EST March 11, 2010

CLAIRTON, Pa. --

A Port Authority bus driver, punched in the face by a passenger Tuesday, told Channel 4 Action News he's relieved nothing worse happened to himself or the other riders onboard.

The driver of the 43G bus was letting two people off at about 3:40 p.m. on Soltis Drive at Desiderio Boulevard in Clairton when one of them turned and punched the driver in the face, WTAE Channel 4 Action News reporter Jon Greiner said. The driver called police, who arrested a 19-year-old man.

"I needed to take the bus to a safe location before I could open the door and he was asking and demanding to get off the bus. I could not let him out," said driver Robert Rodgers.

Rodgers told Channel 4 Action News that the demands of the alleged assailant and a fellow passenger grew louder.

"They continued the vulgar language, and when I went to drop them off, one of them had suckered punched me in the right-hand side of my face," said Rodgers.

Rodgers said he was left unconscious for nearly a minute while behind the wheel of the bus.

"They are very lucky I did not come off the break or that we continued on so that 20 passengers on the bus did not end up severely injured," said Rodgers.

Rodgers said he suffered a concussion, bruises and a bloody nose. He remains at home recovering.

The unidentified suspect will be charged with assault and possibly disorderly conduct, police said.

The incident marks the second time in two weeks when a Port Authority bus driver was assaulted. Last week, a bus driver said he chased a non-paying customer who spit on him, and the two got into a fist fight in Pittsburgh's Regent Square neighborhood. Both the driver and the passenger were charged in that case, which authorities said is unusual.

Since the beginning of 2008, 26 bus drivers have been assaulted on the job -- four drivers of whom were charged during those incidents, according to the Port Authority.

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