Bus Driver Suspended After Resolving Dispute, Getting Stabbed In Georgia

KENNESAW, Ga. -- Authorities say a Georgia commuter bus driver who was stabbed in the face with a pen while trying to resolve a dispute with a passenger has been suspended for not following protocol in the incident.

Cobb County Transit Director Rebecca Gutowsky told the Marietta Daily Journal the driver should have called dispatch for assistance and not confronted the passenger.

Police say the driver went to the back of the bus to keep a quarrel from escalating in Kennesaw on Monday and a female passenger grabbed a pen from the driver's pocket and stabbed him several times in the face.

He was suspended by Lombard, Ill.-based Veolia Transportation, which provides drivers for the system. Veolia spokeswoman Valerie Michael says the company is still investigating.

She says the bus driver is doing fine.

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Comments

[ludichris212]

05:07 AM on 02/25/2012

In the 90's, I had an altercation with a large female on the subway in NYC. I was seated, when an immense female got on the train and attempted to sit in the space next to mine. However, as she began to lower her backside onto the seat, I realized an ample portion of her thigh and buttock was about to be atop my lap. So I halted her descent with my hand and said, "Hey, you can sit down, but you aren't sitting ON me!" I then stood to let her sit down, but no.

She started yelling, got in my face, and she gave me what for, 'grabbin' her ass' and such, and as we pulled into the station which happened to be my stop, I smacked the taste out of her mouth. Nobody on the train moved, she had this surprised look on her face, and I got off of the train and went to work.

She's probably still yellin'...

[JtownesquireAgain]

01:14 PM on 02/24/2012

See...by suspending him and making a point of the fact that he didn't follow protocol...they don't have to pay any worker's comp for his injuries! They are off the hook. Good old Corporate Thinking at its finest!

[Judy75201]

08:34 AM on 02/24/2012

I hope an honorable company hires this heroic bus driver!

[Gwens]

07:31 AM on 02/24/2012

Come on bus company, wasn't he punished enough already!!

[smlyttle]

06:39 AM on 02/24/2012

... maybe they prefer the buses to get sued for the driver doing nothing after calling for help and watching someone die. I mean this guy stepped in to calm it down right? What would have happened if he just let it go? If she was willing to stab a guy who was trying to calm them what would she do to who she was mad at?

[Tracee Collins]

09:41 AM on 02/24/2012

The bus company would have fired him no matter WHAT he did. Thier insurance company runs the show. It's that ol' AMERICAN WAY again....

[philsun73]

06:03 AM on 02/24/2012

Beleive me if I were a bus passenger and some one was getting violent. I'd sure appreciate it if the Bus driver did attempt to prevent. It may keep other innocent passengers from getting hurt. Should he call the cops and wait a half hour for things to really get out of control before the cops got there? I knew a bus driver who carries a baseball bat, just in case. LOL

[kathy smelser]

09:14 AM on 02/24/2012

i agree with you ..the bus company should give this driver a metal for doing the right thing ....who do i contact ?

[DismayedRepub]

04:54 AM on 02/25/2012

He got a metal alright, in the form of the shaft.

[MINDGAMES 2011]

05:27 AM on 02/24/2012

Reminds me of the bank teller in Seattle who chased a bank robber down and was fired for donig so.

[thegriffinite]

12:28 AM on 02/24/2012

I remember a recent story of a girl being beaten on a subway an transit workers did nothing? The person in this story did the right thing an got a double whammy stabbed in the face an suspended. Contact the supervisor at 770-528-1614 or [e-mail] if you have a problem with this.

[maliksmama]

10:35 PM on 02/23/2012

Did they catch the perp? She needs several years in the pen (pun intended) to think about her actions.

[thegriffinite]

12:41 AM on 02/24/2012

I think that's her mugshot at the top of the article. She sure looks like she just stabbed someone.

[cattapalooza]

09:53 PM on 02/23/2012

talk about an insult to injury. this is living proof!

[pcs5141]

06:50 PM on 02/23/2012

Equip and train drivers on taser to use while waiting for cops.

[biabouman41]

04:57 PM on 02/23/2012

You have got to wonder who made up the moronic rules this driver is required to follow

[pcs5141]

06:45 PM on 02/23/2012

Their insurance company and or lawyer.

[thegriffinite]

12:37 AM on 02/24/2012

This stinks of a lawyer.

[KanaMV86]

04:55 PM on 02/23/2012

"I'm sorry to hear you got stabbed in the face while on the job.By the way, we're suspending you. After all it was your own dang fault for not following the proper protecal"

....Vomits....

[Red45]

03:08 PM on 02/23/2012

Suspended for breaking up a fight on his bus? Seriously?

[kashiskay]

03:49 PM on 02/23/2012

Right! And not only breaking up the fight, but being the ONLY one to get injured as a result. While I don't think a 'punishment' is justified at all, getting stabbed "several times in the face" - is enough. Now the poor guy is suspended. Great!

[Tracee Collins]

09:46 AM on 02/24/2012

Thank the greedy insurance pigs.

[madcityy]

03:00 PM on 02/23/2012

this is insaneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee