Updated — An 18-year-old man from Lorton has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding for allegedly assaulting a Fairfax Connector bus driver earlier this month.
The Fairfax County Police Department announced on July 21 that Javantai Johnson was identified as the man behind the assault based on a community tip. He was arrested on Saturday, July 19 in Stone Ridge with help from the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office and is now in custody at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center without bond.
A preliminary hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 20, per Fairfax County General District Court records.
Earlier: Fairfax County police are investigating a reported assault on a bus driver that occurred earlier this week in Lorton.
Officers and medics with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department responded to the area of Gunston Cove Road and Cranford Street around 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday (July 8) for a bus “driver beat up by a subject,” according to a dispatcher on the police scanner.
“The victim reported that while on his regular bus route, an unknown suspect boarded the bus and assaulted him,” the Fairfax County Police Department said today (Friday) in a news release.
Though the driver was described as a “Metrobus driver” on the police scanner, the FCPD later confirmed that it was a Fairfax Connector bus.
According to the FCPD, the person behind the assault was gone by the time officers arrived, and a search failed to locate him. The driver was taken to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
Police are now asking the public for help, sharing photos showing the alleged suspect wearing headphones and a purple Nirvana hoodie.
“Detectives are asking anyone who may recognize the individual or have information about this case to call our Franconia District Station at 703-922-0889, option 2,” the FCPD said. “Tips can also be submitted anonymously through Crime Solvers by phone at 1-866-411-TIPS (866-411-8477), and by web.”
This story initially reported that a Metrobus driver was assaulted. It has been corrected based on police confirmation that the driver worked for Fairfax Connector.
