A Metro bus driver was stabbed at the Montgomery Mall bus depot on Jan. 22, according to police reports.
At about 6:15 p.m., the driver of the J3 route stopped at the depot, near the Sears Auto Center, to allow passengers to board. A man boarded, but refused to pay the fare.
The J3 route runs between Montgomery Mall and the Silver Spring Metro. The fare on that route, and on most Metro Bus routes, is $1.20.
“It’s very seldom that someone gets on and says, ‘I’m not paying my fare,’” said Steven Taubenkibel, spokesperson for Metro.
The driver refused to allow the suspect to board without paying and the suspect left the bus.
The bus was full, and the driver got off to see if another bus was coming to pick up the overflow customers. “It’s a fairly busy route,” said Taubenkibel. He estimates daily ridership on the J3 route to be 5,500-6,000 riders per day.
After the driver got off the bus, the suspect attacked the driver from behind, according to police, and the suspect stabbed the driver in the back and cut his face several times before fleeing,
The suspect ran in the direction of the Hecht’s Home Store, although “no one actually saw him enter the mall,” said police spokesperson Derick Baliles.
The driver, a 45-year-old male who has worked for Metro for four years, was taken to a hospital where he was treated for non-life threatening injuries. He was released from the hospital early on the morning of Jan. 23.
Police describe the suspect as a black male in his 30s, 5-feet-6 inches tall with a thin build, a mustache and a bruise under his right eye.
At the time of the attack, he was wearing a hat, faded jeans, and a white, buttoned-up shirt with a loosened, dark-colored tie with white, diagonal stripes. He had a yellow-spiral notebook tucked into the waistband of his pants. “We’re thinking that might be an indicator that might jog someone’s memory,” said Baliles.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to call 301-657-0112 or Crime Solvers at 1-800-673-2777. Police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and/or indictment of the suspect.