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SALT LAKE CITY -- A Utah Transit Authority bus driver is being praised for safely pulling his bus over while being punched by a passenger.
UTA spokesman Gerry Carpenter said the passenger started attacking as the bus was traveling near 2100 South and 1100 East on Tuesday evening.
"He was striking the operator around the face and the head," said Carpenter. "We are unclear, and our police are unclear on the motivation at this time."
A group of other passengers on board jumped up and was able to pull the attacker down and hold him until police arrived. The attacker ended up with cuts and a broken face bone as he was wrestled to the ground.
"We definitely wouldn't encourage our passengers to put themselves in harm's way, but we are very grateful they came to the assistance of our operator," said Carpenter. "This is an isolated incident, it doesn't happen very often fortunately."
The bus driver was taken to the hospital as a precaution but is now home and doing OK.
The attacker is a 48-year-old man from the Salt Lake Valley. Carpenter said the suspect has a little bit of a history with the UTA but nothing serious like this.
The suspect is now in jail, and one of the charges being considered is bus hijacking.
"When he did attack the operator, the bus was in motion and it did go out of control briefly before the operator was able to pull it over safely to the side of the road," said Carpenter.
E-mail: rjeppesen@ksl.com
