CapMetro bus operator assaulted, robbed by passenger while on the job in East Austin

CapMetro bus driver assaulted

A CapMetro bus driver is speaking after she was assaulted and robbed by a passenger while on the job in East Austin.

AUSTIN, Texas - A CapMetro bus driver is speaking out after being assaulted on the job in East Austin.

She says a passenger who refused to pay bus fare attacked and robbed her and that other passengers on board restrained her attacker until police arrived.

Around 6 a.m. Monday, CapMetro bus operator Latonya Jackson says she was driving her usual route when several passengers got on the bus and one of the passengers did not pay the fare.

"It was a tax ticket inside that fair box, so I’m assuming he thought the fair box was broke or whatever cause he had his ticket out and so he walked past. He went to the back, and I was like sir can you come and swipe your ticket for me? And then he just started screaming and yelling," said Jackson.

The bus operator says she called for assistance after the passenger continued to yell.

"I picked the phone up and I just was telling her, I was about to tell her what was about to transpire, but I guess he seen me on the phone, and he was walking to the phone like, 'oh you are going to call the white man on me, call the police, I don't have nothing to lose'," said Jackson.

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She says the situation began to escalate.

"He came back to the front and the door that is connected to our safe space, he was trying to pull that door off from the hinges or whatever and he was like I will take everything from you." said Jackson.

The bus driver says the passenger reached over, took her belongings, and a passenger’s fare money that was getting on the bus.

"He didn't know what was going on but when he came to the bus, he was about to put his money in the fair box, and he snatched his money from him. He had took like all my debit cards and my identification and he took like maybe $2 or $3," said Jackson.

She says that after taking the belongings, the bus rider got physical.

"I just like kept keeping my eye on him, it happened so fast, I seen him, you know like cock back and pull his arm back like he was about to swing on me and that is what he did," said Jackson.

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The bus driver says a group of passengers pulled the attacker off of her.

"They actually restrained him until the police got there," said Jackson.

The attacker was later identified as Kennedy Asante.

During his arrest, Asante attempted to take an officer’s firearm, but was not successful.

He was charged with Robbery by Assault and booked into the Travis County Jail.

Kennedy Asante

CapMetro launched a transit police department this year to help with the public safety of bus drivers and passengers.

The Amalgamated Transit Union local president Brent Payne weighed in on the attack, stating in part "We need to bring awareness to the elevated level of assaults on operators in Austin."

"I always hear like stuff that goes on with people, but now I really see it, like it can happen to anybody," said Jackson.