Riverside Police have no idea what caused group to attack RTA driver

The motives of the accused attackers who injured a Dayton Regional Transportation Authority bus driver early Sunday morning continue to baffle police days after the incident.

Riverside Police Sgt. Jeff Trego said Wednesday that two adults arrested in connection with the attack have not offered any reason for the assault.

Trego said the investigation is continuing. Montgomery County prosecutors will likely review charges this week that could include the felony charge of disrupting public services.

The arrested are Amy Lockard, 33, and Aaron M. Esken, 21, of Riverside, Trego said. A check of Montgomery County Court records indicate both have had previous arrests.

Esken remained in the Montgomery County Jail Wednesday afternoon. Police are also searching for an unnamed juvenile.

There’s no indication from the sequence of events what could have motivated the attack that happened at 12:15 a.m., Trego said.

“We don’t have the slightest idea,” Trego said. “The two we arrested made no statement.”

Trego said the attack happened after the bus stopped on Valley Street near Rohrer Boulevard to pick up a passenger. The passenger has no apparent connection to those arrested, he added.

The passenger got on the bus. Moments later, the bus driver, fixed route operator Tom Hoskins, heard pounding on the windows of the bus. He stopped and opened the door to look out to see what was happening.

The driver, Trego said, “has no idea what is going on.”

At that time, three people- a woman and two males - entered the bus and assaulted him.

“It’s a mystery what their motive was. He wasn’t going anywhere or erratically driving. He stopped for a passenger and the next thing they are pounding on the bus window and in front of the bus,” Trego said.

Earlier this week, RTA spokesman Frank Ecklar said there could have been a fight in the neighborhood when Hoskins stopped. “Apparently it was a case of Tom being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” Ecklar said.

Trego credited surveillance video of the bus for easy identification of the attackers.

Lockard fled and was arrested at a nearby house. The arrest came after residents at the home called police and said they didn’t know her but she had run into the house and was trespassing. Esken turned himself in, Trego said.

Hoskins was able to get the attention of a Riverside police officer at a nearby service station after the attack and was transported for medical treatment, RTA said. At last report, he was resting at home.

“He’s in good spirits and ready to get back to work,” Ecklar said Wednesday.

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