On a city bus operating route 304 in Spata, a simple request to a smoking passenger nearly led to a bloody incident. “He threatened him, I could see it myself in the mirror,” says the bus driver.
Read: Terror in Spata: Man threatens passengers and bus driver with knife
Spata: He pulled out a knife because he was asked to stop smoking on the bus
The 22-year-old perpetrator boarded the bus at the Makri stop in Artemida along with other passengers. “He sat in the back row, what we call the gallery, and while seated provocatively lit a cigarette,” the driver reports.
When another passenger asked him to extinguish the cigarette, he refused, with the bus driver describing to Live News what followed.
“The complaining passenger came to me and said ‘he pulled out a knife on us when we told him to throw away the cigarette.'”
The perpetrator boarded another bus
The bus driver immediately informed the station master about the knife and the threats passengers were receiving, and through the Ariadne coordination center, alerted the DIAS police unit.
“I’m talking to the passenger, simultaneously talking to the other (bus driver) to explain what’s happening. I call the ‘ARIADNE’ coordination center to give the location of the buses,” says the station master.
“ARIADNE is the police coordination center that takes charge when such incidents occur. These are the police officers who board the buses,” he added.
Eventually, the 22-year-old got off the bus at the Kazantzakis stop and undisturbed took the next bus along with other passengers.
“As everyone got off, they boarded the bus behind, route 304, including the arrested man. After 10-12 minutes they immobilized the bus, went inside, found the accused. At first they didn’t find the knife, they found it after a few minutes because he had hidden it under the seat,” the station master also reported.
It’s worth noting that DIAS unit police officers arrested the perpetrator and as it was discovered, he had been arrested in the past, including for the crime of robbery.
