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The incident happened just after 1 p.m. Thursday, April 30 in Roosevelt.
Carre Handhel, 32, of Elmont, entered the NICE bus at the Nassau Road/East Clinton Avenue stop, Nassau County Police said.
The bus operator, a 67-year-old male, observed that Handhel was not wearing a protective face mask as required by state regulations and informed him that he would need to exit the bus unless he had a mask to put on, according to police.
Handhel became irate and began striking the bus driver on the top of his head and face with his cell phone, causing the driver to suffer lacerations, police said. Handhel then left the bus and 911 was called.
A short time later, officers were able to locate Handhel and place him under arrest without further incident, police said.
The bus driver was transported to an area hospital where he received sutures and staples to close his wounds.
During his arrest processing, Handhel was found to be in possession of a white powdery substance believed to be MDMA (ectasy or molly).
A subsequent investigation revealed that Handhel was the subject of two bomb threats that he made via telephone to a Baldwin Metro PCS store on Wednesday, April 29 and a 911 call he initiated on Thursday, April 30, stating he was going to start shooting people in the Roosevelt area.
Handhel was charged with:
- three counts of second-degree assault,
- third-degree criminal possession of a weapon,
- seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance,
- two counts of second-degree falsely reporting an Incident,
- third-degree falsely reporting an incident.
He will be arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead on Friday, May 1.
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