The suspect appeared in court on Wednesday and was given supervised release despite the alleged violent crime.
MTA leaders and union heads say this is yet another example of the dangers MTA workers face each day.
Shevaughn Legall, 25, left Brooklyn Criminal Court with his legal aid attorney and made no attempt to explain it, but MTA officials are outraged.
"There is no serious physical injury alleged here. That's not the basis of the felony assault and looking at the language of the statute for the alleged strangulation, there is no allegation of stupor or a loss of consciousness. I ask that Your Honor consider that when looking at the factors which strongly weigh in favor of his release on his own recognizance," Legal Aid attorney Nora Wallace told the judge.
"We had a bus operator yesterday who was brutally attacked, who was suffocated while trying to do his job. The criminal justice system let us down," Frank Annicaro, Senior Vice President, MTA Bus Company said.
The incident happened on Tuesday in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant, where a B26 bus and Legall's car sideswiped one another.
In an instant, prosecutors say Legall stormed onto the bus, burst through the Plexiglas partition and grabbed the 68-year-old bus driver by the throat.
The driver was not seriously injured. However, the violent encounter was captured by the bus's onboard camera, according to MTA officials.
"There was no conversation. There was no argument ahead of time, busted through the door, compromised the bus, entered the bus operator compartment and proceeded to choke him and then terrorize the passengers. The passengers were on board, were terrorized. They all ran in fear," Annicaro said.
Legall was arrested at the scene and arraigned Wednesday afternoon.
He was charged with second-degree assault and strangulation.
Over the prosecutor's objections, the judge did not set bail and instead set Legall free on supervised release.
"You spit at an operator, you lay a finger on an operator, you threaten an operator with bodily harm? That is very serious and we take it with the utmost seriousness," Transport Workers Union Vice Presiden J. P. Patafio said.
NYC transit president Demetrius Crichlow released a statement in part saying, "The lunatic who vaulted a barrier to viciously punch and strangle a bus operator just trying to move New Yorkers around Brooklyn displayed utter disregard for humanity, decency, and the safety of passengers on that bus."
It's only the latest of dozens of assaults on transit workers so far this year. Including a 64-year-old station cleaner who was nearly stabbed to death last month.
"The legislation is there. The D.A. takes the steps in order to hold this person off the street. And now the judge just let him walk. I don't understand this," Annicaro said.
The judge said he took into consideration the facts that Legall is raising his year-old child as a single parent, that he has a full-time job and has never been arrested before. But critics say it's an example of a criminal justice system that's broken.
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