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SEPTA Police Seek Woman Who Stabbed Rider in Southwest Philadelphia Bus Attack
A confrontation over unpaid fares on a SEPTA bus in Southwest Philadelphia escalated into a choking and knife attack that left a rider bruised, with one suspect arrested and a second still at large.
SEPTA police are searching for a woman who they say pulled a knife on a fellow rider during a confrontation over unpaid fares aboard a bus in Southwest Philadelphia, an attack that left the victim with bumps and bruises but no serious injuries.
The incident happened Monday, Nov. 9, at about 11:30 a.m. Olivia Brooks told reporters she boarded the bus at 62nd Street and Buist Avenue and noticed a man and a woman who cut in front of her without paying. Brooks said she confronted them about skipping the fare.
According to Brooks, the man responded with a threat and then began choking her. "He said, 'I'm gonna do something to you. I'm gonna do something to you.' And he started choking me," she said. "And I thought, 'I just gave birth to my son.'"
Brooks said the woman joined the attack and was armed with a knife. SEPTA police officers who responded arrested the man at the scene, but the woman fled and remains unidentified.
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the woman's identity or whereabouts to contact SEPTA Police at 215-580-4487 or police@septa.org.
Brooks was treated for bumps and bruises and is otherwise OK, according to the account she gave.
The attack comes as transit officials report a mixed picture on safety aboard SEPTA vehicles. During the third quarter of 2025, leaders said there were 65 aggravated assaults on SEPTA vehicles. So far in 2026, there have been 42 total assaults, a decline of 35% compared with the same period last year.
SEPTA policy directs bus drivers not to confront fare evaders and not to ask them for money, guidance intended to keep operators out of confrontations that can turn violent. In this case, it was a rider who raised the fare issue, and the encounter escalated within moments of her boarding.
The case remains under investigation, and no description of the female suspect has been released.