Second suspect arrested over Jerusalem assault that left bus driver hospitalized

Police say they have arrested an 18-year-old suspected of taking part in a violent assault on a bus driver and sanitation worker this morning in Jerusalem’s Ramot neighborhood.

He is the second suspect to be arrested, as police ramp up their efforts to crack down on violence against transit workers amid pressure from politicians and bus companies.

This morning’s attack left both victims injured and the bus driver, Muhammad Ismail, hospitalized with a broken arm as a result. Two buses were also damaged.

The 18-year-old, a Jewish resident of the neighborhood in the capital’s northern outskirts, was arrested for questioning at the Lev HaBira police station.

Police say that the two suspects had been riding around the neighborhood on electric bikes and attacked innocent passersby. One sanitation worker who had been cleaning the street was attacked by them and suffered facial injuries, they add.

The pair then attacked Ismail, breaking his arm and damaging his bus’s rearview window. Both suspects, aged 17 and 18, will be brought to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for an extension on their remand.