SEPTA driver beaten; 3 teens charged

Philadelphia police charged three teenagers with aggravated assault for allegedly beating up the driver of a SEPTA 52 bus about 1:45 p.m. Saturday in Kingsessing after police said the youths engaged in "rude and outlandish behavior" on the bus.

As the teens exited the bus at 54th Street and Greenway Avenue, one of them grabbed the driver and pulled him onto the street, said Officer Christine O'Brien, a police spokeswoman. "Once on the pavement all three males began to assault the bus driver by punching him in the face," she said.

The 45-year-old male driver, whose name was not disclosed, was treated for a broken nose and facial lacerations at Mercy Philadelphia Hospital, said Heather Redfern, a transit agency spokeswoman. The youths - two 17-year-olds and a 16-year-old - were arrested about four blocks away, in the 5400 block of Paschall Avenue, police said.
- Andrew Maykuth