PORT ANGELES — A Clallam Transit bus driver rescued an 80-year-old passenger from an attack by another passenger and kept the assailant from hijacking the bus until the police could arrive Saturday, police said.
In the process, the driver herself was attacked in the incident at 1:47 p.m. in the 1600 block of West 16th Street, said Cpl. David Dombrowski of the Port Angeles Police Department.
“The bus driver did a great job,” Dombrowski said.
The passenger, Angeline Olsen, was “significantly injured,” he said, adding that she was an acquaintance of the assailant.
Her condition and that of the bus driver, identified by her first name of Joy, were not available late Saturday afternoon from Olympic Medical Center.
Riley E. White, 59, was taken into custody at the Clallam County jail for investigation of second-degree assault and harassment. No bond had been set late Saturday.
Dombrowski said the driver intervened in the attack on Olsen.
“When the attack started, she was driving,” Dombrowski said.
“When he jumped to his feet and attacked his acquaintance, the bus driver pulls over, stops and pulls him off the victim, who is now on floor.”
Police: Attacked, choked
The attacker then assaulted the driver, hitting and choking her, Dombrowski said.
Other passengers helped get the elderly woman off the bus, and the driver managed to distract her assailant “just for a second, enough to get his hands off her neck and jump out the door,” Dombrowski said.
White got into the driver’s seat and tried to start the bus, Dombrowski said.
“The bus driver was able to shut the battery off,” he said.
The bus wouldn’t start and the doors wouldn’t open. White was stuck inside it, Dombrowski said.
Police arrived and arrested White without incident, Dombrowski said.
_________
Executive Editor Leah Leach can be reached at 360-417-3530 or at lleach@peninsuladailynews.com.
