Man arrested after frightening a Lawrence city bus driver, police say

You ever have those morning drives to work where everything is great? Maybe your favorite song was on the radio or the traffic was just right?

If you use public transportation, maybe your favorite seat was left open and everybody was friendly?

Well, an incident on a Lawrence city bus on Thursday morning was nothing like that at all.

Terrance Lemont Bonner, 48, described as a transient man in the Douglas County Jail booking logs, was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of aggravated assault.

Around 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Bonner got onto a city bus at a stop near 23rd and Louisiana streets, said Lawrence Police Officer Drew Fennelly. At the time he and the bus driver were the only two in the vehicle.

As he boarded, the driver noticed Bonner appeared to “be in an agitated state,” Fennelly said. He paced the aisle while yelling and asking the driver questions.

Soon Bonner picked up a metal tool left on the bus, sat next to the driver and continued to yell at him, Fennelly said. The driver was afraid he was about to be hit with the tool.

Bonner then departed the bus in the 2000 block of West 31st Street, Fennelly said. Afraid he would harm another driver or bus rider, the driver called police and Bonner was arrested.

Bonner was booked into the Douglas County Jail and held without bond, according to booking logs.

Further information was not immediately available.


I report on crime and courts for the Journal-World. I can be reached by email at cswanson@ljworld.com, by phone at (785) 832-7284 or on Twitter @Conrad_Swanson.