Crime & Safety
Palm Desert-Bound 'Smoking' Passenger Stabs Driver, Flees: Cops
A man is on the loose days after allegedly stabbing a bus driver who told him to stop smoking, cops say. He was last seen in Cathedral City.
PALM DESERT, CA — Police Tuesday continued to search for a homeless man suspected of stabbing a bus driver during an altercation in Cathedral City.
At around 4 p.m. Sunday, a bus driver going to Palm Springs from Palm Desert asked a young man to stop smoking over the PA system, according to Commander Julio Luna of the Cathedral City Police Department.
Luna told City News Service that the driver was a woman in her mid-50s.
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The man refused to stop, so she asked for assistance from another driver to help get the suspect off the bus at the next scheduled stop, in the 68700 block of B Street in Cathedral City, according to Luna.
The other driver was a 59-year-old man.
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Once outside the bus, a physical altercation ensued between the assisting driver and the suspect, Luna said.
"During the altercation, the male retrieved a knife from his rear pocket and stabbed the driver in the left torso," he said.
The driver was treated on the scene by Cathedral City Fire Department personnel and subsequently taken to the Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs with non-life-threatening injuries, according to Luna. When officers arrived on the scene, they were unable to find the suspect.
The suspect was last seen wearing a black sweatshirt, black jeans and gray shoes, Luna told CNS. He was described as about 35 years old, 5-feet-9, 165 pounds, with brown hair and brown eyes.
Anyone with information about the stabbing or the suspect was asked to call the police department at 760-770-0300 or Coachella Valley Crime Stoppers anonymously at 760-341-7867 (STOP).
