An MTA bus operator was assaulted in the Bronx just after 2021 began.

Chirlane Alston told News 12 about what happened just 30 minutes past midnight on Jan. 1.

"I see a pedestrian running on the side of the bus, so immediately I stop because it was unsafe for him and it was unsafe for me," she said.

She says he was knocking on the door demanding she open it to let him in. They were on the busy Grand Concourse around the area of 181st Street, but not at a bus stop.

"When I refused to open the door, he just got irate. He went in front of the bus. He started screaming and yelling," says Alston.

She says he stopped the bus from moving forward for at least three minutes, so she called the command center. She then says he threw an unknown object at the driver-side window, shattering it.

He then started throwing punches from outside the bus.

"He's just punching me… and he ran off," she says.

According to Alston, a good Samaritan on the bus ran after him and caught him. Edward Guerrero, 28, was charged with assault and criminal mischief.

TWU Local 100 responded in part, saying, "This was a felony assault and these charges must be upgraded. We are demanding that the Bronx District Attorney's Office treat this much more seriously."

Alston has three years on the job and hasn't been back to work, but she says she will be.

"I love to drive, that's my passion, so I'll be back."