 Blood stains the pavement near the door of an Edmonton bus after the driver was viciously beaten by a passenger yesterday morning while frightened passengers - including schoolchildren - looked on. (Sun Media/David Bloom)
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EDMONTON -- A savage attack on an ETS bus has left a bus driver with a shattered face, schoolchildren seeking counselling and a city man charged with attempted murder.
The 58-year-old driver is recovering in hospital from repeated blows to the head and face suffered as he was wedged between his bus and a curb.
Cops have already caught and charged a 24-year-old man for the crime.
"It was absolutely horrible to see what (the attacker) had done," said Katie Bain, 22, who had a front-row seat to the attack. "There's no words to describe what (the driver) looked like afterward, no words," she said, sobbing.
Bain hopped the No. 10 Clareview near 139 Avenue and Victoria Trail about 7:30 a.m.
It was almost full, packed with girls heading to school.
Moments later, Bain said she heard a thumping on the side of the bus.
A man was running, trying to get on after the bus pulled away.
"The driver let the guy on, but he said he didn't have enough money," said Bain.
It was the same grungy guy who hung around the mini-mall at the corner, begging for change, said fellow passenger Sean Emerson, 26.
"The look in that guy's eyes ... I can't describe. It was scary. It was like looking into the eyes of someone who didn't have a soul," he said.
Police said the man looked intoxicated at the time of the attack.
However, Bain said the man was not slurring his words.
"He said, 'I have to get home, I have to get home.' He started cursing," said Bain.
A student heading to John D. Bracco Junior High gave the man a dollar, said principal Mary-Lou Cleveland. But it didn't shut the man up.
Just metres down the road, the driver stopped and told the still-belligerent man to "get off my bus," said Bain.
"Then, all of a sudden his fists were in (the driver's) face," she said.
The attacker picked the grey-haired driver up by the collar and tossed him out of the bus.
The driver fell between the bus door and the curb.
Then the boots swung, crashing directly into the driver's face.
"To do so as much damage as he did, he must have kicked him 15, 20 times," said Bain.
It was mere seconds before the alleged drunk walked away from the scene.
Bain and Emerson said it happened too quick for the busload to react, especially with few men on board.
"It would've taken a lot of us (to take down the attacker), and I don't think we could've done it without getting hurt. Oh God, I wish we could've helped him," said Emerson.
Blood from the driver's face and head pooled outside the bus door, and splattered on the doors and bumper.
"His face was basically completely caved in," said Emerson. "It has to be one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen in my life."
Students riding to nearby John D. Bracco Junior High received counselling yesterday, said a school official.
Cops busted the alleged attacker around an apartment block nearby, soon after the attack, said Karen Carlson, police spokeswoman.
Gary Edwin Mattson has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault and assaulting a peace officer.
Police say he spit on an arresting officer.
RICHARD.LIEBRECHT@SUNMEDIA.CA
