DETROIT (WXYZ) — A Detroit bus driver suffered multiple injuries after a brutal attack that was caught on camera.
It happened Saturday just before 8 p.m. while the bus was stopped outside Ascension St. John Hospital on Moross Road.
It’s the latest in a series of attacks and now, police are asking for help to identify a person of interest.
Detroit Department of Transportation Transit Police say the violent assault happened after the bus driver tried to wake a sleeping passenger.
Police share photos of a person of interest in the assault.
The passenger allegedly punched the driver repeatedly, causing him to suffer a broken nose, damaged eye socket and bleeding.
“They don’t know how they are going to make it back home with how things are going down. These guys have families they’ve got to come home to,” Damond Jackson said.
Jackson, a former bus driver, knows firsthand what it’s like to be a target after he survived an attack in 2014.
Police told 7 Action News that the victim in this case is now recovering after being released from the hospital.
“As procedure, the drivers will check their buses at the end of each line and if someone is sleeping, they wake them up, advise them they’re at the end of the line and they get off. On this occasion, he tried to wake the passenger and the assault occurred,” Detroit Transit Police Chief Ricky Brown said.
Brown says he’s saddened by incidents like this, which happen despite more officers being placed on buses and a barrier installer for drivers along with updated cameras.
“We are dealing with society now that any little thing sets people off. Unfortunately, our public service folks and first responders now have to have an extra tool in our belt for conflict resolution,” Brown said.
The bus drivers’ union told us they are determined to address safety issues. The victim will be on paid leave as he continues to recover.
Police are asking anyone who can help identify the man to call them right away at 313-833-9836.
“Being a former driver, I stay in contact with my DDOT family. They fill me in on what’s going on. I get more upset by the things that I hear,” Jackson said.
Transit Police say they are also investigating a separate case from the past few days where a different passenger pulled a knife on a driver. In that case, an arrest was made.
