A passenger accused in a brutal attack that left a North Saanich bus driver hospitalized has been identified and arrested, RCMP say.
Police say the passenger was riding the bus in the area of Lochside Drive and Backerview Place around 7 a.m. Tuesday when he attacked the driver.
The driver suffered injuries to his face and was taken to hospital by paramedics for treatment.
Police said at the time the suspect rode the bus daily.
Sidney-North Saanich RCMP tweeted just after 8:30 a.m. Wednesday that the suspect had been arrested, and thanked the public for helping to identify him. They also said the man was released on conditoins not to be found on any BC Transit bus.
The suspect from yesterdays bus assault in North Saanich has been identified and arrested. @SidneyRCMP want to thank all those who helped us identify the suspect.
— Sidney/N.S. RCMP (@SidneyRCMP) January 30, 2019
The attack raised new questions about the safety of BC Transit bus drivers and prompted strong words from their union.
"We can no longer accept drivers being used as punching bags," said Ben Williams, President of Unifor Local 333 BC.
In November 2017, BC Transit installed glass doors to protect drivers on three buses in Victoria as part of a trial, but since then, the barriers have not been added to any new buses.
"It's extremely frustrating because we've seen these kind of things happening increasingly over the past few years," said Williams. "Even last week we had an operator who was assaulted by spit. The week before that, we had an operator who had a beverage thrown on him."
BC Transit says the trial was used to test out the glass door to try out its effectiveness and fit.
"We can't just go to Wal-Mart and buy something," said BC Transit Safety and Emergency Management Director John Palmer.
He said he anticipated the company would be looking at an implementation strategy for new glass barriers "over the coming months," and riders could expect to see them on buses in Victoria and other communities in the province.
