Muni driver attacked, robbed on her route

A Muni driver on her regular route was assaulted and robbed near San Francisco's Twin Peaks by two women who didn't have bus fare, police said.

The incident happened at a bus stop at Burnett Avenue and Parkridge Drive along the 37-Corbett line shortly before 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Two women got on board the bus but had no money to pay for the ride, said Muni spokeswoman Paul Rose. 

"There was an altercation between the operator and the people on board," Rose said.

Officer Robert Rueca, a San Francisco police spokesman said the women assaulted the driver and then stole her backpack with electronics inside before fleeing. 

"One of the suspects grabbed the bag of the bus operator and fled the bus and ran away from the bus on foot," Rueca said.
 
The driver, who's been with Muni for 3 years, was treated at the scene for minor injuries. 
 
Police are reviewing surveillance video but aren't releasing it publicly. 

 "Part of our investigation is scouring for video, whether it be on the Muni vehicles and, in this case, it was on a Muni vehicle, so we are looking at that right now as evidence," Rueca said.
 
Rose said every Muni vehicle in the city - including cable cars - has about 10 to 12 cameras on board. 
 

"They do have different angles, they have sound on board the vehicle. We can use that information to identify suspects," Rose said.

Muni said safety is a top priority and that assaults against drivers have gone down 33 percent since 2015.
 
Nevertheless, Muni riders said they were concerned by what happened.
 
"Oh my goodness. That's so scary," said June Drake, who rides Muni about once a month and was out walking her dog Kiwi.

 "I really trust the bus drivers," Drake said. "They're going to take care of us when we get on the bus. But who's going to take care of them? 
 
Another rider, Angela Lucia said, "It's really unfortunate that happened to the bus driver, who often is probably alone especially at the beginning or end of a line."

We caught up with a couple from Finland who said they've been riding Muni the past several days to get around the city.  

When their 37-Corbett bus arrived, the bus driver asked them, "What's your destination?"

When they told them, he responded, "Muni Metro? I got you. You get off at Castro, you understand?"

"Yeah."

"All right," the driver said. "I'll let you know."