DENVER (KDVR) — Video obtained by the FOX31 Problem Solvers shows why drivers are complaining weekly about safety and security issues on their public transportation routes.
Food thrown, window cleaner sprayed
In January 2021, a woman threw a plate of food at a bus operator while repeatedly and violently tugging on the bus doors as the bus was moving. She continuously screamed “I’m getting off” until the bus driver eventually stopped the bus.
According to Englewood Police, the passenger was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct, and resisting and interfering with an officer.
In February, a woman sprayed window cleaner on a bus driver as she was exiting the bus. Surveillance video appears to show her boarding the bus and proceeding to her seat without any issues, but when the bus operator started driving, the passenger said that she had left something outside of the bus. She expressed displeasure that he didn’t immediately stop for her to retrieve it.
A banana, a stabbing and spit
In April, a bus operator – who was later fired – was stabbed after an altercation. A passenger would not get off the bus and threw a banana at the driver. The driver proceeded to engage in a fight with the man outside of the bus. At some point, the operator suffered a stab wound that caused lots of bleeding and required stitches.
In a separate incident, an irate passenger who appeared to have left his phone behind on the bus, shouted at a bus driver repeatedly. The driver said the passenger spit on him.
Drinks thrown and weapons pulled
Another bus rider told a driver, “You don’t got to be a cop,” when the driver questioned whether the passenger had the proper ticket to ride the bus. Eventually, the passenger took the cap off of his drink and splashed the driver by reaching around a Plexiglas barrier.
Another driver grabbed a crowbar to fend off a group of young people who expressed frustration with the bus operator’s stops. One member of the group called the driver a “dumbass b—-.” An official record indicates one of the passengers pulled a knife, and an “unknown metal object was thrown” at the bus operator’s head.
In June, a bus operator who questioned a passenger’s transfer ticket became the target of a separate passenger who dumped a drink on him. That passenger called the driver a “b—- for not letting that lady (passenger) on (the bus).”
Kicking the Plexiglas
In September, a man started kicking the plexiglass barrier between the driver and the passenger, calling the driver a “f—— b—-.” He later ran out of the bus and threw a rock at the vehicle.
Two passengers got into a physical fight on the back of a moving bus around 6 a.m. at the end of September. They scuffled for several minutes before giving up. The bus driver called for the men to exit the bus, but they ignored his pleas.
Threats of shooting
In November, a couple with a baby in a stroller boarded a bus, playing loud music. When the driver asked them to keep it down, the two adults charged toward the driver, shouting at him with swear words and racial slurs. The male passenger told the driver he would shoot the driver.