NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Police launched an investigation after an on-duty MTA bus driver was pepper-sprayed by a passenger during an argument in the Bronx on Monday.
The incident occurred at about 12:45 p.m. on the BX39 bus when the 42-year-old driver became involved in a verbal dispute with a passenger who may have been standing too close to the driver, officials said.
The argument escalated, and the man sprayed the driver in the face with pepper spray before running off the bus at East 216th Street and White Plains Road in Olinville, according to the NYPD.
The suspect was last seen heading northbound on White Plains Road and remains in the wind, according to police.
Police on Monday also released video footage of a man wanted in another attack on an MTA bus driver that occurred in May.
Just after 6 a.m. on Monday, May 10, the suspect attempted to board a SIM10 bus with an electric scooter at the intersection of Fingerboard Road and Narrows Road South in the Concord neighborhood, authorities said.
The suspect became involved in a verbal dispute with the 46-year-old male MTA bus operator then struck him in the face with his hand, officials said.
The susepct stepped off the bus and fled on the scooter.
The victim suffered pain and swelling to his face and was transported by EMS in stable condition to Staten Island University Hospital - North Campus.
In surveillance footage release by officials, the suspect is seen with a helmet/hardhat with a distinctive design clipped to his backpack.
Anyone with information in regard to either incident is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).