LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Another incident on a Regional Transportation Commission bus has left many bus drivers and passengers shaken and angry with the RTC.
"It seems as if there's nothing that happens that motivates the RTC to get effective security out on the streets," said RTC bus driver Dennis Hennessey.
REPORT: Bus barricade suspect bit officer, hit K-9 during arrest, report says
Hennessey has been a bus driver for 13 years and said in the last few years he's been advocating for more security on buses.
The latest incident involving a man barricading inside a bus is giving renewed attention for transit police on buses.
On Monday night just before 7 p.m., Metro police responded to a report of a bus driver claiming a passenger attacked him with a trash can and rocks. This is near the intersection of Durango Avenue and Blue Diamond Road. Police identified that passenger as 29-year-old Allyn McFarland.
Police said when officers arrived McFarland had barricaded himself inside the bus and refused to leave.
Several officers and a K-9 tried to get McFarland to leave the bus, according to police. They said the struggle lead to the McFarland injuring several officers, even biting one of them.
Court records show McFarland previously served time in prison for attempted battery. He was also charged last May on second degree arson.
"They tell us we have to be professional and we have to have good customer service but there is no one directing the passengers," said ATU Local 1637 president Terry Richards.
ATU Local 1637 is the union representing RTC bus drivers in the Las Vegas valley.
She said RTC needs to have a transit police force rather than security officers in order to reduce the violence on the buses and improve safety. Security officers do not have the authority to arrest.
"Transit police officers would work just like metro police officers," said Richards. "He can tackle them, cuff them, all of that. Our security guards can't do that."
The incident on Monday comes less than one month after a stabbing on an RTC bus left one passenger dead on Paradise Road near Desert Inn.
PREVIOUS: Arrest report shows RTC bus murder suspect was let on bus, despite 'expired ticket'
In January, police reported that a woman was arrested for trying to steal an RTC bus near the same intersection where the incident on Monday happened.
