A 49-year-old man pleaded not guilty Monday to attacking a bus driver in Costa Mesa.
Dennis Lee Bunton was told by an Orange County Transportation Authority bus driver to sit down, prompting him to strike a partition protecting the driver until it broke and hurt the driver about 6:40 p.m. Thursday while the bus was in Costa Mesa, Orange County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Todd Hylton said.
The driver was taken to a hospital but was not seriously injured, Hylton said.
Bunton was charged with a felony count of battery against a transportation worker and a misdemeanor count of assault against a transportation worker, according to court records.
After entering his plea in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana, Bunton was ordered to return to court June 1 for a pretrial hearing in the West Justice Center in Westminster.