WASHINGTON — Police are searching for a woman who threw hot soup on a Metrobus driver in D.C. over the weekend.
Around 6:50 a.m. Sunday, a woman boarded the 96 Route Metrobus at its Benning Road station and neglected to pay the fare. The bus driver told her she would need to pay, and she responded, “F**k you, I’m not paying anything,” and threatened to spit on the driver when she got off the bus, Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said in an email to WTOP.
The bus driver didn’t respond to the woman and continued driving, Stessel said in the email.
About 20 minutes later, the woman was getting off the bus in the area of Union Station when she threw hot soup on the bus driver. The suspect then fled the scene eastbound on Massachusetts Avenue in Northeast.
The bus driver was transported to an area hospital where he was treated and released.
There was protective glass around the bus driver at the time the suspect threw the soup, Stessel said. After assaults last year, all new buses ordered by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority included the glass barrier to protect drivers from passengers.
Bus operator assaults are down 14 percent in 2016 compared to 2015. So far this year there have been 62 assaults compared to the 72 during the same time period in 2015, Stessel said.
The bus camera captured the suspect, and police are asking for help identifying her. If you have any information about the incident or the suspect’s identity, call Metro Transit police at 301-955-5000.
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report.
