Caught on video: London, Ont. bus driver slugs man during altercation
Video of a London transit bus driver appears to show him punch a man across the face -- but the passenger who filmed the incident says there is more to the story.
On Thursday evening, 22-year-old journalism graduate Divyasri Sreekumar filmed the incident from inside a bus at the stop outside Masonville Place.
Sreekumar says a man wearing a brown shirt had been disturbing people at the bus stop prior to the driver’s arrival.
“This guy was screaming, and was basically being a perv and a creepy guy,” she describes.
She wants people to know the full context of the video, describing how the driver told the man to leave, but he grew more defiant -- spitting at the driver.
“He spit so hard that everyone (at the bus stop) said ,‘Ohhh!’” she adds. “Next I see the driver punches the guy and pushes him off.”
London Transit Commission General Manager Kelly Paleczny tells CTV News London that an investigation was launched into the incident, and no other details can be provided at this time.
At 7:40 p.m. London police were called to the bus stop about a person causing a disturbance -- but their response was cancelled when they received a subsequent call that the person had left the area.
After the man left, Sreekumar says the bus driver involved in the incident apologized to people waiting for the bus.
“He would walk around to the other bystanders and say we are so sorry you had to see this. So sorry for making you uncomfortable. But everyone was like, ‘We totally understand.’”
CTV News London was unable to locate the man in brown to ask his version of the events.
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