A bus crashed Monday after a passenger punched the driver, according to police in Randolph, Massachusetts.
The Brockton Area Transit bus rear-ended a car and hit a utility pole on North Main Street around 7:15 p.m. Authorities learned that 24-year-old Matthew Young of Boston had allegedly assaulted the driver, leading to the crash.
Police said Young attacked the driver, a 48-year-old Brockton man, because he was not allowed to get off the bus where he wanted. Officials noted that the BAT follows a fixed route and the driver was not able to stop.
Sixteen people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, prompting police to declare a mass casualty incident. Two Randolph women who were in the car that the bus hit were among those hospitalized, as were the bus driver and a 10-year-old Randolph boy who was on board.
"This attack on the driver made for a very dangerous situation for riders on the bus and anyone traveling in the immediate area," Randolph Police Chief William Pace said in a statement.
The crash caused North Main Street to close for about an hour.
Young is charged with wrongful interference of operation of a vehicle carrying passengers for hire, a felony. He also faces charges of assault and battery on a bus driver and assault and battery resulting in serious bodily injury.
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He is due to be arraigned Tuesday at Quincy District Court. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney.