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An Auckland bus driver has been severely injured after getting beaten with a skateboard by fare dodgers during a late-night attack in the central city.
“I have to put up with the pain and everything - the mental pain, the physical pain - it’s just not fair,” Singh said.
The father to two young boys is unable to walk unsupported, suffering a fracture of his lumbar spine. His general practitioner advised him it could be up to three months before he can stand, sit, lie down and walk on his own.
Singh’s wife said: “You know, people don’t have any respect for people who are working hard for their families - and they just get away with it, that’s probably why they do it again and again - and what option are we left with?”
An Auckland bus driver has been severely injured after getting beaten with a skateboard by fare dodgers during a late-night attack in the central city.
The attack happened on Mayoral Dr about 9.30pm. Singh was driving on the New Lynn 24R route.
“I stopped to pick up passengers, and then four young adults enter in my bus and want a free ride, but I refused them entry.
Singh was familiar with the group, they had caused trouble on his bus before. Singh said they evaded paying their fares regularly and would constantly press the button requesting him to stop only to remain on the bus and swear at him.
Tired of the ongoing abuse, Singh escalated a complaint to his bosses and radioed for support. He received a phone call from the bus depot and went outside the bus to take the call and any advice.
“While I’m talking with my [control operator], they all jump off and I got back on the bus to start driving again - but then they enter my bus again and one guy used the ‘f-word’ to me.
“Then he spits on me and I try to start talking to with them.
“Then the other guy starts pushing me and starts to fight.
“They used a skateboard to hit me and after that, I fall on the ground. Now they all start kicking and hitting me with the skateboard.
“After that, they run away.”
Police confirmed they received a report of an assault on a bus on Mayoral Dr about 9.30pm on August 31. A spokesman said the victim was taken to hospital with moderate injuries.
Police are continuing to try and track down the offenders and are asking anyone with information about the incident to phone 105 and quote file number 240901/2676.
Auckland Transport said it “can’t provide detail on this individual incident” but added it was rolling out safety screens to protect drivers, with a promise of installing them in all new buses and a target to fit out 80% of its fleet within two years.
Bus operator Kinetic said it had launched an internal investigation and it could not comment on the incident while this was under way.
Auckland bus driver Rajnish "Raj" Trehan suffered facial injuries after he was attacked by a passenger following racial abuse at about 10am on Saturday on the Number 18 bus in Avondale near Great North Rd.
Meanwhile, last Saturday, bus driver Rajnish Trehan asked an unruly passenger who refused to pay their fare to show some respect for other public transport users.
But his request for some common decency was met first with the passenger saying, “This is my country, you are my servant”, and then with violence.
After his racially charged tirade, the man unleashed a vicious punch to Trehan’s face that left him requiring hospital treatment and urgent dental care for a dislodged tooth.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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