FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Bronx Man Sentenced to Four Years in Prison for Slashing MTA Driver
Cut Victim in Face and Neck during Unprovoked Attack in Brownsville Street
Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson today announced that a 30-year-old man was sentenced to four years in prison for attacking a uniformed MTA bus driver without any provocation, slashing him in the face and neck.
District Attorney Thompson said, “This defendant’s vicious and unprovoked attack against a hard-working public servant who was simply waiting for his bus to be towed is completely unacceptable. He deserves to be sent to prison to protect the public.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Alfredo Perez, 30, of 1363 Franklin Avenue in the Bronx. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Michael Gary to four years in prison following his conviction on April 21, 2016 of second-degree assault and fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon after a bench trial.
The District Attorney said that, according to evidence at trial, on September 13, 2014 at about 10:50 p.m., John Browne, a bus driver for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, was outside his bus near the corner of Mother Gaston Boulevard and Hegeman Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn. He parked the B35 bus at the last stop of its route and was waiting for assistance after a hazard light had indicated a mechanical problem.
Mr. Browne, who was in uniform, was returning to the bus after making a purchase at a bodega, when he heard the defendant, whom he had never seen before, cursing him from the opposite street corner. The defendant then crossed the street, quickly approached the victim, continued to scream and curse, took out a knife and slashed Mr. Browne on the left side of his face and neck, according to testimony.
The victim was taken to Brookdale Hospital, where he received six stiches. He continues to suffer pain and has a visible scar across the side of his face, the evidence showed.
The defendant immediately fled the scene and was apprehended four days later.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Farin Chasin-Fodeman and Nicholas Ford of the District Attorney’s Trial Bureau V, Orange Zone, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Janet Gleeson, Orange Zone Chief.
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