Attack heightens transit fears

Transit riders, already wary of travelling through an east-side hub after dark, have even more reason to fear after a weekend attack on a bus to Abbotsfield.
A 24-year-old woman escaped with only minor injuries, after being swarmed by a group of drunk teenage girls and threatened with a knife.
The victim had asked the three teenagers to quiet down when they attacked her aboard a bus at Coliseum Station around 12:45 a.m. on Saturday.
The woman was shoved against a bus window, breaking the glass, and a knife was held to her throat while one of the suspects unsuccessfully tried to grab her purse.
Police have not identified the suspects, who left the bus once it arrived at the Abbotsfield Transit Centre.
Despite the attack, Peggyann Godfrey, 54, said she has never encountered any violence on the bus. But she tries not to take the bus at night.
“I try to be at home by the time it gets dark so I don’t have to take the bus then,” said Godfrey, who travels to and from Abbotsfield Transit Centre. “I just feel more comfortable not travelling on the bus at night.”
Nineteen-year-old Kimberly Bochanesky, who takes the bus from Coliseum Station almost every day, makes sure her cellphone is handy when she takes the bus at night.
“I’ll talk on my phone and tell people where I am, so if something happens they can either come get me or call somebody and let them know,” Bochanesky said.
“It’s public transit, right, so if something happens there’s people to radio in if there’s trouble.”