Bus driver killed in New York

NEW YORK, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- New York police allege a passenger who hadn't paid his fare fatally stabbed a bus driver when he was denied a free transfer in Brooklyn.

Edwin Thomas was stabbed Monday aboard his bus in Bedford-Stuyvesant, the New York Post reported Tuesday, noting a suspect, whose name wasn't released, was in custody.

Witnesses said the passenger, described as in his 20s, several times swiped a MetroCard in the fare reader but it didn't register. The man sat down, without Thomas challenging him for payment and a short time later asked Thomas for a free transfer, witnesses told police.

"You didn't even pay to get on the bus," Thomas reportedly said shortly before the passenger stabbed him and fled.

Thomas, who had driven a city bus for seven years, died Monday at Woodhull Hospital, the Post reported.

"My dad died for $2," Jeffrey Jupiter, 18, noting his father loved his job and never missed a day's work, said to the Post.