Police release image of suspect in attack on TTC employee

Toronto police have released a security image of a suspect wanted for assaulting a TTC employee early Saturday morning.

Police say the suspect attended the Eglinton West bus terminal at around 2 a.m. on Saturday and became angered when a TTC employee told him buses were no longer running.

The employee tried to lock the door, but police say the suspect forced his way back inside and assaulted the worker.

Police have not revealed if the TTC employee suffered injuries.

The suspect is described as between 35 and 40 years old, around five feet 11 inches tall with a medium to heavy build and dark moustache.

Police say he was wearing eye glasses, a dark blue jacket, faded blue jeans, white Puma shoes and a yellow baseball hat. He was carrying a maroon gym bag at the time.

Toronto police recently announced it was increasing its presence on the TTC after a rash of violent incidents, and the TTC has added more of its own security officers as well.

But the union that represents Toronto transit workers wants Justin Trudeau’s government to take immediate steps to help.

In a release late last month, ATU Local 113 said internal surveys found an “alarming 73 per cent of participants have reported an incident of violence towards them on the job.”

“No employee should feel endangered or threatened in their line of work, especially in a position like ours where we serve the interest of the general public in moving the city. We move Toronto, this is what we do.”

In an open letter to Trudeau, the said it union wants the following actions taken:

• An immediate and direct injection of much-needed emergency resources towards violence prevention, mental health relief, and addressing homelessness on the transit system.
• The request from the City of Toronto to the Government of Canada to amend subsection 269.01 of the Criminal Code to include all transit workers in these provisions, not just operators.