Union Man Gets 8 Years For Beating Pregnant Bus Driver In Elizabeth

A Union man who was just months out of prison when he attacked a pregnant bus driver early this year was sentenced to another eight years, the Union County Prosecutor’s Office said.

A pregnant woman was attacked in January as she was operating an NJ Transit bus.
Photo Credit: *COURTESY: NJ Transit*

Paul Milo

06/07/2019 3:47 p.m.

Andre Dawson III, 39, has an extensive criminal history that includes 40 arrests and 13 felony convictions, which led to the extended sentence. Dawson previously pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree aggravated assault.

The driver, who works for New Jersey Transit, was attacked around 4:30 p.m. Jan. 28 near North Broad Street and Westfield Avenue. She’d suffered cuts and bruises in the attack and was treated at Trinitas Hospital.

Dawson was identified as a suspect following an investigation by Elizabeth Police Department Detectives Paul Tillotson and James Szpond, as well as New Jersey Transit Police Department Detectives Ruben Mendez, Mike Valido, and Jonathan White. He was arrested in February.

Prosecutors said Dawson told investigators he attacked the driver because she “got an attitude with me.”

The victim, who is now seven months pregnant, read a statement in court Friday as fellow NJ Transit employees looked on, the prosecutor’s office said.

“I cried the whole night,” the woman said of the assault.

“It was a nightmare I could not wake up from. I didn’t know how to explain to my daughter what happened.”

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