After police report MTA bus driver was attacked, union calls for tougher penalties

Johnny Rodriguez, Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus driver of 13 years, was attacked April 4 by a civilian driver after a minor car accident near Riverdale and Ellsworth avenues, the Yonkers Police Department said.

Local 100, a chapter of the Transport Workers Union of America that represents 41,000 workers in the New York City metropolitan area, said incidents like these are not uncommon, and called for the maximum amount of jail time against Rodriguez’s alleged attacker.

Local 100 MTA Bus Vice President Danny D’Amato condemned the incident, and said drivers deserve to come home safe from work.

“There’s no regard for us,” D’Amato said. “We’re essential people. We serve the public, but we’re not getting the respect that we need.”

Union members described 59-year-old Rodriguez, who is a part of the MTA Bus Yonkers Depot, as sociable, caring, good-spirited, happy-go-lucky and a family man. They said he is married, and is a father to a 10-year-old. Rodriguez was not available for comment.

Police said the bus driver was making a three-point turn when a civilian driver tried to pass the bus by crossing the double yellow line into oncoming traffic.

Security footage obtained by The Press from police appears to show the back of the BxM1 making contact with the side of a white truck. The bus driver can then be seen exiting the vehicle and approaching the civilian truck driver. The footage appears to show the two men talking for a moment before the truck driver grabs the bus driver from behind.

Police said the suspect placed the bus driver in a chokehold unprovoked, threw him to the ground, and slammed his upper body repeatedly into the ground before fleeing the scene in his car. The bus driver was lying in the middle of the road when police arrived, and was soon rushed to a nearby trauma center to treat his head — which struck the pavement — and other injuries, according to police.

According to the union, Rodriguez suffered two brain bleeds, a concussion, and neck, shoulder and back injuries.

Police said the suspect was identified as 29-year-old Thywill Anasu from Manhattan. He was charged with assault in the second degree, which is a class D felony punishable by up to seven years in prison, according to New York State law. Anasu was arraigned in Yonkers April 8, and his bail was set at $5,000, according to police. He is expected back in court April 14.

Anasu could not be reached for comment.

Union members told The Press they plan to be present for the next court date to show their support for Rodriguez, as well as to make clear they are pushing for the maximum sentence.

Local 100 Yonkers Depot Chair Marcos Soler said he saw Rodriguez at the hospital the night police said he was attacked. Soler said Rodriguez followed procedure — check the bus, secure the passengers, and confirm the person in the other vehicle is okay. Members of his depot are “up in arms” about the incident, he added.

Soler believes those who attack drivers should face more severe charges than they do. In his experience of 15 years with the MTA, he said offenders tend to be given less than the maximum sentence. Stricter sentencing could help start to curb violence, he believes.

D’Amato took the same stance, saying he believes once a case involving an MTA driver’s offender reaches court, the charges are “watered down.”

“The bus runs late, they take it out on the bus operator,” D’Amato said. “The person has a bad day, they go after the operator. I think if [courts] stick to the seven years, maybe that culture will change.”

Local 100 President John Chiarello said he feels assaults against drivers are only becoming more frequent. He said the amount that he is in court or visiting union members in the hospital has risen, and attacks seem to be becoming more vicious.

An arrest in a separate incident was made April 9, the New York Police Department said. On March 19, a 42-year-old MTA driver was sitting in a Bx3 bus, when a man started an argument with him, according to police reports. The man became irate, police said, and punched the driver in the face causing pain and a laceration to his lip. Police reported the victim was taken to the hospital in stable condition, and the suspect was later arrested and charged with assault.

“People are taking for granted that we’re humans,” Chiarello said. “We’re not machines … We’re your mother, your father, your sister, your brother. We run the system and we should get that respect.”

The MTA did not directly respond to a question from The Press of whether it plans to implement additional safety measures for drivers. However, New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow denounced the incident involving Rodriguez, and also called for maximum consequences.

“Transit employees are just trying to do their jobs getting millions of New Yorkers where they need to go,” Crichlow stated.