A San Francisco bus driver was allegedly hit with a wooden baseball bat last week after asking three passengers to put on face masks to comply with the city’s coronavirus public health order.
Three men boarded the bus operated by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, or Muni, in the city’s South of Market neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon, San Francisco Police Department officer Robert Rueca said Friday. The driver repeatedly asked passengers to wear a mask, but they refused, so the driver stopped to let them out.
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In this April 7, 2020 file photo, a Muni worker walks in front of buses in a courtyard of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in San Francisco. (AP Photo / Jeff Chiu, file)
“When the victim was escorting the men off the bus, one of the men pulled out a wooden bat and hit the victim multiple times, causing the victim to be injured,” Rueca said. “The suspects fled the scene on foot in an unknown direction.”
Officers responded to the scene at 11th and Division streets around 3:30 pm to document the alleged assault. The men also allegedly spat on the driver before getting off the bus, Fox 2 San Francisco reported, citing unidentified Muni employees and a representative from Local 250A Transportation Workers’ Unions. The driver reportedly suffered a broken finger and was recovering at home.
Everyone in San Francisco must wear a face covering in public, even while traveling on public transportation, under the city’s current health mandate designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
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Last week, California overtook New York as the state with the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the nation. As of Sunday, California recorded more than 530,000 confirmed cases, with more than 8,400 deaths.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
