91³Ô¹ÏÍø

Watch CBS News
Local News

MTA bus driver recovering in hospital after being attacked on the job

By
Tony Aiello
Tony Aiello
Tony Aiello serves as a CBS News New York general assignment reporter with a focus on covering news and breaking stories in the Northern Suburbs.
Read Full Bio
Tony Aiello

/ CBS New York

An MTA bus driver is recovering in the hospital after what his union calls a brutal, unprovoked attack on the job.

It happened around 8:30 p.m. Saturday on Riverdale Avenue, where the Bronx and Yonkers meet. It's the U-turn at the end of the line for New York City buses.

According to Yonkers Police, there was a minor collision between an MTA bus and a second vehicle as the bus attempted a U-turn, and both drivers got out of their vehicles.

Bus in middle of multiple lanes of traffic
An MTA bus driver was attacked after a collision on the Bronx-Yonkers border on April 4, 2026. Citizen

The driver of the second vehicle, identified as 29-year-old Thywill Anasu, then attacked the bus driver before fleeing, police said. The attack was caught on camera.

Video shows the driver, 59-year-old Johnny Rodriguez, laying on the ground.

"Some type of contact was made where he had to get out of the bus to observe the damage that was done to the bus," TWU Local 100 President John Chiarello said. "And the person in the other vehicle, who has not been apprehended yet, just went absolutely crazy and body-slammed him, did a lot of different crazy stuff to him."

Anasu was arrested and charged Wednesday with second-degree assault.

Chiarello said Rodriguez has a serious head injury. He called it an unprovoked assault on a worker doing his job.

MTA bus driver laying on ground
An MTA bus driver was attacked after a collision on the Bronx-Yonkers border on April 4, 2026. Citizen

The incident has unsettled other drivers, including one who did not want to be named.

"Not so much in shock because the way the world is today, it's what's happening all over," the driver said. "Kinda worried. They're afraid because could this happen to them?"

"We're trying to go out there and talk to our members about situational awareness," Chiarello said.

NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement, "Transit employees are just trying to do their jobs getting millions of New Yorkers where they need to go. Assaults against them are unacceptable and when this perpetrator is caught, they must face consequences to the maximum extent of the law."

In:

© 2026 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
const link = doc.createElement('link'); link.rel = 'stylesheet'; link.href = '/fly/fly/bundles/cbsnewscontent/css/cmp-banner.min.css?v=50747257b890e014813016b79ece0fb2'; doc.head.appendChild(link); doc.body.innerHTML = CONSENT_MESSAGE; } else { el.insertAdjacentHTML('afterend', CONSENT_MESSAGE); } }); } function hidePrivacyMessage() { // Remove from the main document document.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); // Remove from inside any iframes document.querySelectorAll('iframe').forEach(iframe => { const doc = iframe.contentDocument || iframe.contentWindow.document; doc.querySelectorAll(`.${CONSENT_MESSAGE_CLASS}`).forEach(el => el.remove()); }); } function activateGatedScripts() { // Handle both new format (cmp-gated-script) and old OneTrust/Ketch format (optanon-category-4) const gatedScripts = Array.from(document.querySelectorAll('script.cmp-gated-script, script.optanon-category-4')); // Activate scripts sequentially with a small delay to avoid timing issues let delay = 0; gatedScripts.forEach(function(placeholder, index) { setTimeout(function() { // Skip if already processed if (placeholder.hasAttribute('data-cmp-processed')) { return; } placeholder.setAttribute('data-cmp-processed', 'true'); const newScript = document.createElement('script'); newScript.type = 'text/javascript'; // Try new format first (data-cmp-src), then fall back to old format (data-src) const src = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-src') || placeholder.getAttribute('data-src'); if (src) { newScript.src = src; } else if (placeholder.textContent) { // Inline script - just copy the content newScript.textContent = placeholder.textContent; } // Handle new format attributes (data-cmp-attrs) - for both inline and external scripts const attrs = placeholder.getAttribute('data-cmp-attrs'); if (attrs) { const tempDiv = document.createElement('div'); tempDiv.innerHTML = '
<\/div>'; const tempAttrs = tempDiv.firstChild.attributes; for (let i = 0; i < tempAttrs.length; i++) { // For external scripts, allow defer/async. For inline scripts, skip them (not valid) if (src || (tempAttrs[i].name !== 'async' && tempAttrs[i].name !== 'defer')) { newScript.setAttribute(tempAttrs[i].name, tempAttrs[i].value); } } } // Copy other attributes from old OneTrust format for (let i = 0; i < placeholder.attributes.length; i++) { const attr = placeholder.attributes[i]; // Skip attributes we've already handled or don't want to copy if (!['class', 'data-src', 'data-type', 'data-cmp-src', 'data-cmp-attrs', 'data-cmp-processed', 'type', 'async', 'defer', 'src'].includes(attr.name)) { newScript.setAttribute(attr.name, attr.value); } } placeholder.parentNode.replaceChild(newScript, placeholder); // If external script, manually trigger window.onload handlers after it loads // This handles widgets that use window.onload for initialization if (src) { newScript.addEventListener('load', function() { // If page already loaded and script set a new onload handler, trigger it if (document.readyState === 'complete' && window.onload) { const originalOnload = window.onload; window.onload = null; // Clear temporarily to prevent loops originalOnload(); // Execute the handler } }); } }, delay); delay += 500; // 500ms delay between each script to allow full loading }); } cbsoptanon.onScriptsReady(function(cmp) { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (!allowed) { showPrivacyMessage(); } else { activateGatedScripts(); } }); cmp.ot.awaitInitialConsent(function(consent_model) { cmp.ot.addOnConsentChangedHandler(function() { cmp.ot.targetingAllowed(function(allowed) { if (allowed) { hidePrivacyMessage(); activateGatedScripts(); } else { showPrivacyMessage(); } }); }); }); });