Female bus driver in Englewood elbows rider who tried to snatch cash

Gerardo Ruiz, 52, of West New York boarded the NJ Transit bus in Bergenfield, bound for Fairview, around 1:30 yesterday afternoon, Detective Capt. Timothy Torell told CLIFFVIEW PILOT.

Feeling he overpaid by $1.35, Ruiz “aggressively approached” the 32-year- old driver as the bus headed down South Dean Street, Torell said.

When she told him he’d paid the correct amount, Ruiz “reached across her and tried to take the cash she was carrying in an envelope on her left side,” he said.

“She literally couldn’t see ahead on the road and couldn’t properly control the bus,” the captain said. “So she elbowed him in the midsection.

“Over a buck thirty-five? Go figure.”

Englewood Officers Nathaniel Kinlaw and George Coleman took Ruiz into custody after the driver pulled the bus over and dialed 911 .

They later discovered he had an active $500 warrant for failing to appear in West New York Municipal Court for a disorderly persons offense, Torell said.

Ruiz was being held on $50,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail, charged with robbery and interference of transportation.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy ENGLEWOOD PD 

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