A person was assaulted aboard a Metro bus Tuesday in the Encino area and a suspect was taken into custody, marking the third attack tied to the transit system within 24 hours and again raising concerns about safety on buses and trains.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers responded around 2:05 p.m. to the reported attack near the intersection of Ventura Boulevard and Balboa Avenue.
There was no immediate word on the condition of the victim, but police said a person was taken into custody. Officials at the LAPD’s West Valley Division told KCAL9 the victim was attacked with a wrench, despite earlier report the attack was a stabbing.
The suspect, who apparently suffered from a mental illness, stole a cell phone from the victim before slamming the wrench into his chest, authorities said. The victim was not seriously injured and did not require hospitalization. The suspect was taken into custody.
At about 7:05 p.m. Monday, a teenage boy was stabbed during an attempted robbery aboard a Metro bus near West Los Feliz Road and South Central Avenue in Glendale.
According to various reports, three juvenile suspects approached the victim and attempted to steal his backpack. The victim was stabbed during the attempted robbery and the suspects ran away from the scene, but officers from the Glendale Police Department caught two of the suspects.
A search was continuing for the third suspect.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was handling the investigation of the stabbing, according to the Glendale police.
About two hours later, a woman was stabbed at a Metro C (Green) Line station at South Vermont Avenue and the Glenn Anderson (105) Freeway. The victim was taken to a hospital in unknown condition, and the suspect — a man wearing all black — got away by boarding a westbound train toward Hawthorne, authorities said.
The attacks are the latest incidents of violence plaguing the Metro transit system. The spate of violence included the fatal stabbing of a woman aboard a train in the Studio City area last month and a series of attacks targeting bus drivers — prompting some of them to stage a “sick out” last month to demand more security.
Metro’s Board of Directors on April 29 approved an emergency procurement declaration to speed up acquisition and installation of protective barriers for drivers on about 2,000 buses due to the “sudden, unexpected increased severity of assaults on operators.”
The board also pushed for a review of other potential safety improvements, including an examination of measures such as securing all transit station entrances and exits, increasing security cameras on the system and making use of facial recognition technology.
Responding the spate of attacks, Clara Karger of Mayor Karen Bass’ office said in a statement: “The recent increase in crime and violence toward riders and operators on the system is absolutely unacceptable. Mayor Bass is working with other members of the Metro Board of Directors to take decisive action to make Metro safer for riders, operators and community members.”