WASHINGTON (AP) — The D.C. Council has passed a bill to stiffen penalties for assaulting a Metro transit operator by 50 percent after a spike in such crimes last year.
Metro says there were 84 assaults against Metrobus drivers last year. More than 50 of them were in the District.
Metro’s bus operations chief Milo Victoria says the assaults range from being spit on to being hit with sticks, bricks, hands or weapons like guns. There also have been attempts to fondle or undress transit operators.
The new law would carry a 50 percent higher fine or longer jail sentence for such attacks compared with assaults against regular citizens.
Metro and the transit workers’ union have been lobbying for the legislation in the District and Maryland since last year. A similar measure failed in the Maryland General Assembly this session.
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