#MTA bus driver pepper-sprayed by passenger in the Bronx

An on-duty MTA bus driver was pepper-sprayed by a passenger in the Bronx on Monday afternoon, police said.

The assault on the 42-year-old female driver happened after she got into an argument with a male passenger who may have been standing too close to the driver on the BX39 bus, according to police and sources.

The verbal feud escalated, and the man sprayed her in the face with the irritant before running off the bus at East 216th Street and White Plains Road in the Olinville neighborhood at about 12:45 p.m., according to the police.

The suspect was last seen heading northbound on White Plains Road, police said. He was still on the loose by late Monday.

The bus driver was taken to Jacobi Medical Center for treatment.