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Passenger beats up bus driver in Queens after request for a free ride gets turned down

Photo via Wikimedia Commons/Inset courtesy of NYPD

After learning that there’s no such thing as a free ride, a passenger in Laurelton decided to beat up an MTA bus driver, police said.

Cops released images on Dec. 23 of a man who attacked a bus driver on the night of Dec. 14 at 10:38 p.m. at a stop on the Q5 line along Merrick Boulevard near 220th Street.

According to authorities, the assailant boarded the bus and demanded that the 32-year-old male driver let him on without paying the $2.75 fare. When the driver refused, the passenger went on the attack, punching the driver multiple times in the face before exiting the bus and running away northbound on Merrick Boulevard.

Officers from the 105th Precinct and EMS units responded to the scene. Paramedics brought the injured bus driver to Long Island Jewish Valley Stream Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries.

Cops described the assailant as a black man between 20 and 24 years of age, standing 6 feet tall and weighing 185 pounds. He was last seen wearing a red hooded sweatshirt, blue sweat pants with white stripes on the sides, and white sneakers.

Anyone with information regarding the suspect’s whereabouts can call Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA), visit the Crime Stoppers website, send a direct message to the Crime Stoppers Twitter page (@NYPDTips) or send a text message to 274637 (CRIMES), then enter TIP577. All calls and messages are kept confidential.

Under state law, assaulting an MTA employee is a felony, punishable by up to seven years in prison.