Woman attacks UTA bus driver, passengers

Police have arrested a woman they said attacked a bus driver and two passengers aboard a UTA bus.

It happened around 10:50 a.m. Monday in South Salt Lake near 3300 South and 1200 West. Utah Transit Authority spokeswoman Carrie Bohnsack-Ware said a woman was throwing a football inside the bus, striking other passengers.

"The bus driver asked her to stop," Bohnsack-Ware said Monday.

After the woman refused, Bohnsack-Ware said the driver attempted to radio in to UTA's control center about the problem when the woman attacked her.

"The phone has a cord and the woman took the cord and tried to choke her (the bus driver)," she said.

Two other passengers tried to help the bus driver and were hurt in an altercation.

Numerous police agencies responded, Bohnsack-Ware said. Paramedics treated the driver and the passengers at the scene.

UTA police took the woman into custody and booked her into jail for investigation of assault, Bohnsack-Ware said.

There were 18 people aboard bus route 35, UTA said. After the passengers gave statements to police, another bus was called to take them to their destinations.

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