Greyhound Passengers From California Stranded, Employee 'Beat Up' After Bus Wheel Fire

DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A bus fire in a remote stretch of Texas stranded passengers in Dallas and led to a violent confrontation at the Greyhound bus station downtown Monday morning.

Passengers told CBS11 their trip from California was such a nightmare they are actually defending the passenger who beat up a Greyhound employee over demands for a refund.

The wheel of a Greyhound bus was already on fire by the time the driver stopped in the town of Pecos Sunday evening.

Passengers on their way from California say the driver initially refused to pull over despite the smell of smoke inside the bus.

More than 40 passengers were evacuated and brought to Dallas, putting them seven hours behind and missing connections to various parts of the country.

Once at the downtown Dallas bus station, passengers recorded videos showing a Greyhound employee in a yellow vest bloodied and being led away to an ambulance.

It happened when one passenger says he was denied a refund.

Police questioned the passenger but did not make an arrest.

Other passengers defended his actions saying Greyhound showed little to no interest in re-booking them for hours while other buses continued to depart and arrive.

"Customer service, they kind of was like they didn't care what was going on. They were like, 'OK just wait,'" said George West, one of the stranded passengers. "We should have been a priority when we got here to get on these buses... They have no managers on duty no supervisors we are waiting on people to come just to tell me something."

West said he's likely going to miss his aunt's funeral in Nashville Tuesday unless someone comes to his aid.

The earliest he could leave now on a bus is 3:00 a.m.

Greyhound has so far not respond to our request for a statement or interview.