Trellis Robinson, MTA bus driver in New York City
New York, NY — Trellis Robinson, a 43-year old MTA bus driver, s uffered from inj uries after a man at tacked her and th rew ur ine in her f ace while she was at a bus stop loading up passengers. The inc ident is just one of many recently rep orted att acks on bus operators in the New York City area.
Robinson was driving a BX2 route last Friday and was stopped at 138th Street and Grand Concourse when a man on the sidewalk sudde nly thre w a liq uid — believed to be u rine — on her f ace.
“I made the right turn to load up my passengers, as they loaded I close the door and I as I proceeded to turn my head to look in the mirror to pull out of the bus stop he was at my window,” Robinson told NBC 4 New York.
Robinson said the sh ocking inc ident has been tra umatic for her.
“It literally went all in my fac e my hair, it drip ped all down the left side of my body, it went inside my shirt. All around my neck,” Robinson said.
Earlier that day, another female bus conductor was pu nched in the fa ce and spl ashed with uri ne at Brooklyn Avenue Station before the sus pect fle d.
Both women were tre ated at a local hosp ital after suf fering from p ain, nau sea, and redne ss and bu rning sens ation around the eyes.
Oneshia Portlette-Shade, chairwoman of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, said the at tack was a part of a growing p roblem. In other inc idents, bus drivers have been s pit on, thr own with bl each, and even stab bed.
“These sensel ess at tacks are disg usting and disgr aceful,” NYC Transit President Andy Byford said.
“I’ve asked NYPD to step up p atrols in response to the subway inci dent in addition to our prior request to increase pol ice presence on buses, and we will do whatever we can to help NYPD ident ify the perpe trator or perpetr ators including shar ing any video su rveillance that may exist.”
No one has b een ar rested yet in connection to the att ack. An invest igation is ongoing and the poli ce are still looking for the susp ect, who was des cribed as “a bla ck male, about 5-feet-7 inches tall, 160 to 180 pounds, wea ring a Navy sweatshirt with a hood, khaki pants and red sneakers.”