Los Angeles police have arrested a man suspected of stabbing a Metro bus driver Thursday afternoon in Venice.
The driver was behind the wheel near Main Street and Venice Way around 2:15 p.m. when a man stabbed him in the back, according to police.
The suspect then fled into a nearby business and was later detained by police, authorities said. The weapon was recovered by law enforcement
The driver is in stable condition, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
“Metro is angered and saddened to hear about this heinous act of violence and is providing support to our employee and his loved ones,” Metropolitan Transportation Authority spokesman Dave Sotero said in a statement. “We will work closely with the LAPD to investigate this incident and are grateful for their swift action in arresting the suspect.”
The assault is the second stabbing of a bus driver in a month: On May 24, a 61-year-old Metro driver suffered life-threatening injuries after he was stabbed by a 17-year-old boy over an argument about fare evasion.
As The Times reported in May on the growing number of assaults against Metro bus drivers, the agency is attempting to curtail such incidents by installing floor-to-ceiling plastic walls that fully encase the driver. The barriers were being tested on about 20 buses.
Subscribe to Continue Reading
“We’re [trying] to mitigate the vulnerabilities that exist right now where a patron or someone doing the assault still has access to the operator,” said Robert Gummer, a Metro deputy executive officer.
Anyone with information related to Thursday’s incident is asked to call the LAPD’s anonymous tip line at (877) 527-3247.