Suspect Under Arrest In B15 Bus Line Spray Attacks
NEW YORK (CBS2NewYork) -- A second suspect was arrested Friday as part of a series of incidents directed at the B15 bus line in Brooklyn, police said.
46-year-old Andre Chandler of Brooklyn is accused of two separate incidents on August 23, 2018, in Brownsville in which two Metropolitan Transportation Authority bus drivers and two passengers were sprayed with an unknown substance. Both drivers were treated at local hospitals and released.
Chandler faces charges of assault, menacing and reckless endangerment.
Police say Sherrod Jackson was arrested on Thursday, accused of throwing a rock at the window of a B15 bus on Monday in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Jackson is charged with criminal mischief.
Neither the driver nor passengers were injured in the attack, Transport Workers Union Local 100 officials said.
In yet another incident, a MTA bus driver on another B15 bus was rushed to the hospital Monday after his window was smashed. The TWU says the driver was pulled over at a stop near Fulton Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard when someone came up to his window. The driver opened it to see if the man needed help and then shut it when the man pulled out an aerosol spray can, according to the union.
The driver shut the window but the man started banging on it with the can, which the union says shattered the glass. The driver was rushed to a nearby hospital, but the alleged assailant ran off.
In response, the union has demanded a dedicated police presence on buses along the route until the person is caught to remedy the "deep concern for worker safety."
"We've been working closely with the police and the union on these attacks since last week and are providing assistance to catch this perpetrator and any others that may be out there. We will not stand idly by while our colleagues are attacked," Transit Authority President Andy Byford said in a statement.
Meanwhile, the MTA is planning to only run buses on the B15 route that are equipped with cameras until the suspect is caught.
