Less than a week after a woman was charged for pouring a cup of urine on a Metrobus operator, police arrested a man for allegedly spitting on another Metrobus driver in the same part of town.
Metro spokesperson Sherry Li told DCist that Coleman James Miller spit on a U4 bus driver in the 4200 block of Minnesota Avenue NE on September 5 around 6:15 a.m.
Michael Timmons, a bus driver with 18 years of experience, told Fox 5 News that Miller is a frequent passenger on his bus. He said the incident caught him off guard because Miller didn’t say anything before or after he spat, then got off the bus.
Metro Transit Police located Miller at a Shell gas station on Benning Road, where he was positively identified. The 31-year-old man was charged with simple assault.
Timmons was taken to a local hospital to be tested for any illnesses he may have contracted, according to Fox 5.
The incident comes days after a woman was arrested for assaulting another bus driver in the area. On August 30, police charged 38-year-old Opal Brown with simple assault for allegedly pouring a cup of urine on an X2 bus operator before getting off the bus at the Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road NE. The incident took place four days prior to her arrest.
Metro officials said that surveillance cameras captured Brown peeing into a cup near the back of the bus. Brown told NBC 4 that she hadn’t planned to throw the urine on the driver, but she was provoked. Brown said the driver “said ‘Have a nice day’ all sarcastically. She could have been more courteous,” prompting her to throw the urine-filled cup.
While new Metrobuses come with Plexiglass protective shields for drivers who’ve faced attacks, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 689, which represents most WMATA workers, says those protections aren’t sufficient.
A couple days after Brown’s arrest, some Metro workers called for safer working conditions, which led to delays on the X2.