ST. PAUL, Minn. - A man has been charged with assaulting a St. Paul bus driver after video captured the incident, according to Ramsey County prosecutors.
According to a criminal complaint, Metro Transit police responded to the alleged assault at 6th Street and Robert Street on Friday at about 12:45 p.m.
Police say they arrived and found that the bus driver was bleeding from his lip and had a "gaping wound" on the upper left corner of his mouth. He told police that he had asked a man, later identified as 35-year-old Tony Ronald Curtis, Jr., to step away from the door so other passengers could enter. He told police that Curtis then "sucker punched" him.
The complaint states that another transit operator witnessed the incident and confirmed the driver's story. It was also captured on video and was consistent with his account, according to the complaint.
Investigators identified Curtis from the video and compared the footage to known photos of him. The driver said that Curtis also spit on him on June 12.
The victim had to get four to five stitches from the assault, the complaint states.
Curtis was arrested later the same day by Bloomington Police for fifth-degree assault, according to the complaint. He's now charged in Ramsey County with felony-level third-degree assault.
