Police arrested a 20-year-old Northeast D.C. man Tuesday after they say he brandished a knife at an X2 bus operator and threatened to kill him in what began as an argument over a fare.
The incident, which was first publicized by Metro’s largest workers’ union, happened on the X2 bus shortly before noon near 8th and H streets Northeast. According to the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, Abney was a “repeat fare evader” whose threatening behavior was known to drivers. The police report appears to confirm that allegation.
According to the report, when Abney boarded the bus and neglected to pay the $2 fare, the driver forbade him from riding due to “multiple reports made by operators” — including himself — “about the defendant threatening them.”
Police said Abney responded that the driver is “always messing with him” and another person close to him. The driver told Abney to exit the bus or he’d call police.
At that point, police said, Abney approached the fare box and — reaching around the bus safety shield with the knife — threatened the driver’s life.
“I’m going to kill you,” Abney said, according to the police report.
The driver flipped the safety shield open, knocking Abney against a pole, police said.
“I’m going to see how your day’s going to go after the police get here,” he told Abney, the report said, before sitting back down, closing the shield and answering a call from central command on his bus-equipped phone.
Abney retreated for the moment, but stood near the door and continued to make threats, the report said.
As he stood with the knife out, Abney allegedly told the driver, “I’m going to kill you the next time I see you.” A short while later, Abney stepped off the bus. But outside, he banged on the window and told the driver “next time I see you at Minnesota Ave. I’m [gonna] kill you,” police said.
Abney fled down H Street Northeast before being arrested at Crown Fried Chicken at 716 H Street NE, the report said. He wasn’t done making threats, however, according to police.
“If y’all let me see that bus driver out of uniform, ima do something now. You wait ima do something,” he said, according to police, who said the arrest was captured on body camera.
Before police caught up to him, Abney handed the knife to an associate, who hid it in her bra, police said. Police interviewed the woman, who they called a witness, and recovered the weapon, they said.
The incident came as Metro and the union continue to be at odds on how to handle the recent spike in assaults on bus operators. Both say they are making pushes to institute harsher penalties in such instances.
“When you assault a bus operator, you are putting at risk the lives of everyone on the bus,” Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a statement. “That’s the rationale for the stronger laws that are in place elsewhere around the country: You’re attacking everyone aboard the bus.”
The union has complained that the plexiglass shields equipped on Metrobuses are insufficient to protect drivers from violent offenders. The union has alleged that several bus drivers have recently been threatened with firearms. In August, a 38-year-old woman was arrested after allegedly throwing a cup of urine on a driver who told her to “have a nice day.” In a separate incident, a D.C. woman was arrested last week after allegedly spraying a Metrobus driver with a bottle of Sunny D orange drink, according to police. Also last month, a 31-year-old man allegedly spat on a U4 bus driver a few blocks south of where the urine-throwing incident was reported.
Metro spokesman Dan Stessel said police had stopped Abney five previous times this year; three for fare evasion, once for disorderly “affray” in a July 19 incident and on June 17, when he was cited for playing loud music in the system. The union said offenders like Abney should pay a harsher price for crimes against its workers.
“ATU Local 689, the union representing bus operators, mechanics, maintenance and clerical employees of WMATA is calling — again — for an immediate increase in transit police presence,” the union said in a statement Tuesday. “In addition, the union is calling on the legislators of Washington D.C. to enhance protections for transit workers by classifying assaults against transit workers as a felony, and allow Metro to ban repeat offenders from the entire system. Transit assaults are at an epidemic level and Metro must address this urgent issue of safety so that workers and the riding public are protected.”