SEPTA Driver Speaks Out After Attack

The brutal beating of a SEPTA bus driver is caught on tape and now police are looking for two suspects in the unprovoked attack.

Fox 29's Dave Schratwieser has the driver's own account of the incident, the videotape and more details on this bus ride turned violent.

SEPTA bus driver 47-year-old Esteban Santiago says he was actually giving two teenage riders a break, but all he got in return was a beating.

“He just hit me right around my head...I was feeling them blows and they was pretty hard. It was here, here. The hard one was here, and it hurt here,” tells Santiago.

Santiago says he was choked and almost knocked out by the rider who was caught on tape by SEPTA surveillance cameras as he pummeled away on Santiago.

It happened on the Route 124 bus as it stopped at 12th and Market Streets in Center City in April.

“When we're behind the wheel, you’re defenseless. You got me cornered, you know what I mean. What can I do? That was like a cowardly act,” says Santiago.

Police and Santiago say the teenage suspects got on at the King of Prussia Mall, headed to Center City.

When they couldn't produce the whole fare, Santiago says he tried to compromise with them. But at the end of the ride, one of the suspects brutally attacked him.

“The one that hurts a bit at times is this one right here. Because he hit me right here,” says Santiago.

“There was really no need for that. They're two thugs obviously and we need to get them off the street,” says Lt. Frank Vanore of Philadelphia Police.

Santiago has been with SEPTA for seven years. He understands when some riders can't afford the whole fare.

“We're flexible. We know how the situation is, the economy is. Period. So we work it out,” says Santiago.

The 47-year-old driver doesn't understand why the suspect felt the need to administer the beating over a $2.25 bus fare.

“You can't just beat up on us because you want to. Because you don't have the fare,” says Santiago.

Santiago suffered head and facial injuries. He has since returned to work.

The suspects are described as 16 to 19-years-old. Police say they face robbery and assault charges when they are captured.

Anyone with information is urged to call the police tip line at 215-686-TIPS.