Man Gets Prison For Attacking Female SEPTA Bus Driver In Montco

NORRISTOWN, PA — A Philadelphia man was ordered to spend between two to six years in state prison after he pleaded guilty to felony aggravated assault in connection with a 2020 attack on a SEPTA bus driver in Montgomery County, according to court records and media reports.

Shawn Johnson, 45, was sentenced recently by Montgomery County Common Pleas Court Judge Thomas P. Rogers to time behind bars for his attack on the female mass transit bus driver in Cheltenham Township back on Oct. 20, 2020.

Records show that in exchange for the guilty plea on the second-degree aggravated assault charge, other felony and misdemeanor counts that had originally been lodged against the defendant were dismissed.

A report in the Mercury newspaper says that the investigation into Johnson arose out of an incident aboard the SEPTA bus, during which Johnson sprayed an unknown liquid substance into the eyes of the female bus driver after apparently complaining about the heat aboard the bus.

Johnson allegedly told officers who later caught up to him that the driver "deserved it," and stated that the substance was merely water.

It was never determined what the substance actually was, and the driver had to be examined and treated at a local hospital.

Court records show that in addition to the prison sentence, Rogers ordered the defendant to have no contact with the victim.

The docket sheet in the case shows that Johnson was represented by attorney Denise Marone of the Montgomery County Public Defender's Office.