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Man accused of 'unprovoked' attack on PSTA driver
St. Pete Police Chief Anthony Holloway reported new details of an 'unprovoked' attack on a PSTA bus driver that led to the arrest of a man this week.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A man was arrested for attacking a Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority bus driver in downtown St. Petersburg Tuesday, police said.
The St. Pete Police Department said Obdulio Chacon, 46, was taken into custody in Largo and arrested on an aggravated battery charge.
St. Pete Police Chief Anthony Holloway held a press conference Friday morning to discuss the case. According to Holloway, Chacon got onto a trolley bus that was parked at 2nd Ave. NE and Bayshore Ave. NE shortly after 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
The PSTA driver, who has not been identified by investigators, was on his break. Chacon sat in the bus for a few moments, according to Holloway, until the bus driver finished his break and stepped back onto the trolley, at which point Chacon began to punch him.
After police said he "brutally attacked the driver," Chacon got off the trolley and walked away.
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The bus driver was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries after the attack, and as of Friday, he is recovering at home.
Police used PSTA to identify Chacon as the suspect, and on Wednesday, a driver in Largo noticed Chacon on his bus and contacted the Largo Police Department. They then arrested him in Largo and brought him back to St. Pete.
He was transported to the Pinellas County Jail after being questioned. According to Chief Holloway, Chacon's criminal history is about 30 pages long with a litany of different charges.
This is at least the third violent incident against a public bus driver in the last five years.
In 2018 and 2021, drivers were punched by a passenger, and in 2019, a Hillsborough Area Regional Transit bus driver was stabbed to death. That led to a series of security upgrades on buses, including barriers separating the driver from the passengers.
A spokesperson for PSTA addressed the incident at the press conference Friday morning, saying the agency will review its security measures to determine if any improvements need to be made.