A cellphone video has captured a vicious fight between a Los Angeles bus driver and a homeless woman who allegedly demanded a free ride. The incident occurred on Sunday around 12:40 p.m. near Central Avenue and Jefferson Boulevard according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Witnesses said the woman tried to board the L.A. Dash bus without paying her fare and the driver refused telling her she could not ride. The woman then attacked the female bus driver dragging her off the bus from behind her plexiglass safety barrier.
Vagrancy/homelessness is not an economic problem. It is a mental illness, drug addiction and crime problem.
Another innocent person targeted by a mentally ill homeless person who should have been taken off the streets and put into a facility. https://t.co/sGJ9trljXh
— Ron Nehring (@RonNehring) May 7, 2024
The video shows the woman shoving and punching the driver who struggles with her attacker and repeatedly yells “Get off me!” The driver managed to punch the woman at least once in the face before getting back on the bus and pushing the attacker off while closing the door.
Video shows homeless woman brutally attacking Los Angeles bus driver after allegedly demanding a free ride https://t.co/I6rZNo9mjP pic.twitter.com/rKSDsh6lBO
— TheBlaze (@theblaze) May 6, 2024
Police said the homeless woman was later taken into custody and the bus driver was treated at the scene and released. The altercation came just two days after bus drivers protested by organizing a “sick-out” to pressure officials about the lack of safety at work following a series of attacks some of which were lethal.
The L.A. County Metropolitan Transit Authority blamed “untreated mental illness and drug addiction” for the rise in criminal incidents and told the protesting workers that a “sick-in” was against the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
