At about 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Hoskins was driving southbound on Valley when he stopped for a woman standing in the middle of the street, according to Policicchio’s account in his email.
When the driver opened the door, “several suspects” boarded the vehicle and assaulted him. They then fled the scene, the email says.
Hoskins was able to get the attention of a Riverside police officer at a nearby service station after the attack, Policicchio wrote. Hoskins was transported for medical treatment, he wrote.
Hoskins is “doing great” at home, RTA spokesman Frank Ecklar said Monday. He did not know when he will be back on the job.
“As we understand the evidence to date to be accurate, we believe that this was not a targeted attack,” Policicchio wrote. “We also do not believe that these perpetrators were RTA customers. At this time, the Riverside Police Department has one suspect in custody. Our team continues to work with the police, which hopefully leads to the arrest and conviction (of) all the perpetrators involved.”
A Riverside police sergeant said this morning he could not immediately answer questions. Ecklar said he understood that Riverside police have made two arrests.
Ecklar said there was a fight in that neighborhood when Hoskins stopped. “Apparently it was a case of Tom being at the wrong place at the wrong time,” he said.
In June 2014, Rickey Wagoner was fired from an RTA driving job after police determined that his claim of being attacked in Dayton by three black youths in February that year was false.
Mark Donaghy, RTA executive director, said at the time that employees are eligible for a payout in the case of a felonious assault. The payout can be up to $100,000, and Wagoner did inquire about the payout through his union representative after the claimed incident, Donaghy said.
Wagoner said he was stabbed and shot twice in the claimed attack but was saved by a religious book in his shirt pocket.
Ecklar said RTA has no reason to doubt Hoskins’ account of what happened.
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