MTA bus driver recovering in hospital after being attacked on the job

An MTA bus driver is recovering in the hospital after what his union calls a brutal, unprovoked attack on the job.

It happened around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on Riverdale Avenue, where the Bronx and Yonkers meet. It's the U-turn at the end of the line for New York City buses.

According to Yonkers Police, there was a minor collision between an MTA bus and a second vehicle as the bus attempted a U-turn, and both drivers got out of their vehicles.

The driver of the second vehicle then attacked the bus driver before fleeing, police said.

Video shows the driver, 59-year-old Johnny Rodriguez, laying on the ground.

"Some type of contact was made where he had to get out of the bus to observe the damage that was done to the bus," TWU Local 100 President John Chiarello said. "And the person in the other vehicle, who has not been apprehended yet, just went absolutely crazy and body-slammed him, did a lot of different crazy stuff to him."

Chiarello said Rodriguez has a serious head injury. He called it an unprovoked assault on a worker doing his job.

The incident has unsettled other drivers, including one who did not want to be named.

"Not so much in shock because the way the world is today, it's what's happening all over," the driver said. "Kinda worried. They're afraid because could this happen to them?"

"We're trying to go out there and talk to our members about situational awareness," Chiarello said.

NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement, "Transit employees are just trying to do their jobs getting millions of New Yorkers where they need to go. Assaults against them are unacceptable and when this perpetrator is caught, they must face consequences to the maximum extent of the law."
    
Yonkers Police said they are aggressively pursuing leads and making progress in the investigation.