Bus driver fired after brutal assault on passenger
VIDEO - A Lincoln city bus driver has been fired after surveillance video showed him repeatedly punching a passenger...
WOWT – A Lincoln city bus driver has been fired after surveillance video showed him repeatedly punching a passenger.
The incident happened March 23rd. After stopping the bus, 43-year-old Troy Fischer punched the 40-year-old passenger and dragged him off the bus.
The city’s Public Works and Utilities Department, which runs StarTran, said Fischer notified his supervisor that he was having trouble with a passenger. The supervisor instructed Fischer to let the passenger leave voluntarily or call police. In the video, Fischer tells his supervisor that he put the passenger off the bus and “it wasn’t pretty.”
After reviewing the video, which was released Friday, police determined the passenger was never confrontational or belligerent. The man was new in town, having just moved to Lincoln from Colorado, and was asking Fischer several questions about the city. Fischer has been cited for misdemeanor assault.
Fischer said he felt the man was under the influence of alcohol or high on drugs, but admits he did not act in self-defense and should not have hit him. Fischer, who’d been a StarTran driver for four years, is a former Marine who served during the 1990s. He said he suffers from anxiety and depression and is dealing with some personal problems.
“We take this incredibly seriously,” Lincoln Public Works Director Miki Esposito said after the incident. “This behavior is unacceptable.”
