LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Attacks on RTC bus drivers were such a serious problem in the Las Vegas area, last year drivers voted to strike. RTC then added dozens of security officers. Now there’s a new push to add even more protection for bus drivers across the state. Assembly Bill 361 would add barriers around drivers to protect them from unruly passengers and give them immediate access to panic buttons.
Last session, lawmakers approved putting cameras on public buses and because of that law we are seeing video of a shocking attack on a driver.
Video from inside a bus in Sparks on February 3, 2025, recorded a passenger yelling at the driver and as the driver closes the doors to the bus, that passenger unleashes a brutal attack. The driver, Thomas Parsons, is punched in the face twice tries to defend himself getting up from the seat and falling down the steps as the bus is moving. The attacker continues to wail on him and then stomps on him when he is on the ground.
Parsons suffered six broken ribs. The passenger, Ryan Mastelotto who had prior convictions including battery, was arrested.
Lawmakers in Carson City were shown this video during a hearing Thursday on the need for better protections for bus drivers.
“Transit workers have been spit on, have things thrown at them, have been punched and kicked, and have even been targets of stabbings,” shared Assemblymember Linda Hunt who represents Clark County/North Las Vegas. Hunt is sponsoring AB 361 because, as she told FOX5, her nephew is a transit driver in Las Vegas.
“He had expressed to me about how they felt unsafe and some of the traumas that a lot of the bus drivers had experienced,” Hunt recounted. Supporters say the shocking video of the recent attack shows the dire need to add barriers around drivers and a quick way for them to call for help in an emergency.
“This is what workers have really been needing for a long time, and we’re going to make it happen,” Hunt promised.
It would be up the RTC to pick up the cost of adding panic buttons and dividers to all buses. Taxpayers would not be responsible.
Hunt explained another bill on the Senate side now in the works would seek to mandate an increase in transit security officers, something that’s already been done in Southern Nevada.
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