On July 16, 2012, Bus Operator Jose Rondon was attacked while discharging passengers on his Bx10 Bus at 231st Street and Broadway just after noon. One year and one week later, his assailant, Fernando Lopez, 30, received five years’ probation at the hands of Bronx County Supreme Court Judge John Carter. Union members, who had expected jail time for Lopez, reacted with disgust. Lopez came into court with his mother, leaning on a crutch because of injuries received in a recent auto accident.
OA Division 1 Chair Frank Austin, who thought that ADA Tim Lynch would be able to convince Judge Carter to hit Lopez with substantial jail time, left court immediately after the judge handed down the sentence, not stopping to talk to Lynch or even look at him. The ADA was out-lawyered by Lopez’s defense counsel, who said that a plea deal offered earlier to her client should stand. Lynch brought up Lopez’s recent arrest on a larceny charge as well as the fact that Jose Rondon was in a “specially protected class,” – MTA employees on duty and in uniform – to no avail.
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