A 35-year-old St. Paul man “sucker-punched” a Metro Transit bus driver last week after he was asked to move away from the door, authorities say.
Police met with the bus driver sometime after the incident, which took place just before 1 p.m. Friday at Sixth and Robert streets in downtown St. Paul, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday in Ramsey County District Court.
The driver had blood spilling from his lip as well as a “gaping wound” on the upper-left corner of his mouth, the complaint said.
He told officers that he was climbing onto the bus to relieve the current driver during a shift change when he asked the man ahead of him to move away from the door so other passengers could board.
Apparently offended, the man, later identified as Tony Ronald Curtis Jr., responded by “sucker punch(ing)” him in the face, the complaint said.
The other driver witnessed the incident and it was also caught on surveillance video, according to authorities.
The driver needed several stitches to close the wound to his mouth, the complaint said.
Curtis was apprehended by Bloomington police later Friday for his alleged involvement in another assault case.
He declined to be interviewed by investigators.
Allegations of misconduct toward Metro Transit operators are stacking up against Curtis.
He was recently charged with punching another bus driver, as well as spitting on two others, according to court records. Another case alleges he called a female bus driver an offensive name and then smashed out a bus window.
Those cases are still pending.
One of the complaints describes Curtis as posing an “extremely high risk to public safety and security.”
He was charged via summons with third-degree assault in the Friday case.
He could not be reached for comment. No attorney was listed for him in court records.
Curtis previously was civilly committed for ongoing mental health issues, records say.