A man accused of beating an MTA bus driver in Yonkers was arrested on felony assault and burglary charges in the Bronx months later - and the driver's union is angry that bail was not raised or revoked.
Thywill Anasu made a brief appearance in Westchester County Court on Thursday, Oct. 8, after which more than a dozen members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 - including the still-injured bus driver - expressed their displeasure that county Judge George Fufidio and Bronx Judge Michele Davila have allowed Anasu to remain free.
"Now to add injury to insult he went to the Bronx, turns around and commits yet another assault and is out without bail," said John Chiarello, the Local 100 president outside the courthouse. "I say this is an atrocity.
It's an absolute injustice."
On the night of April 4, a BxM1 MTA bus driven by Johnny Rodriguez was making its normal U-turn at Riverdale and Ellsworth avenues when it collided with Anasu's truck. Both men got out and Anasu is accused of putting Rodriguez in a headlock, throwing him to the ground and slamming his head against the pavement multiple times.
Rodriguez suffered brain bleeds, a broken arm and other injuries and still had a cast on his arm on Thursday.
Anasu was initially charged with second-degree assault and bail was set in Yonkers City Court at $5,000 cash or $50,000 bond released on $50,000 bond set in Yonkers City Court.
When Anasu was indicted weeks later on a more serious first-degree assault charge - which carries a mandatory prison term - prosecutors at his arraignment asked Fufidio to raise the bail to $50,000 cash, $150,000 bond or $500,000 bond partially secured by cash.
Fufidio denied the request and maintained the original bail amounts of $5,000 bail or $50,000 bond, which Anasu posted.
On Aug. 8, Anasu allegedly was using a saw to remove air conditioners from a Bronx apartment building that had sustained a fire. An FDNY fire marshal in uniform saw him and tried to open the door of a car Anasu got into. As Anasu drove off, the marshal suffered injuries to his head, back and arm, according to a criminal complaint.
Anasu was arrested on charges including three felonies, second-degree assault and second- and third-degree burglary. Bronx prosecutors asked for the same bail amounts Westchester prosecutors had but Davila ordered him released with non-monetary bail conditions.
At his next Westchester court appearance on Sept. 10, prosecutors cited the Bronx arrest in asking Fufidio again to raise the bail in the amounts they had sought previously. He refused again.
Rodriguez, a 13-year veteran driver, said Anasu remaining free after a second assault arrest was "a disappointment" to him and his family.
"It's not right, to be let go a second time to hurt somebody else," he said. "What can happen next? Somebody has to die to put this guy in jail? It's not right."
Chiarello suggested judges who make such decisions should be voted out of office. Fufidio, a Democrat, is a former prosecutor and defense lawyer who has served on the county bench for eight years. He is running for state Supreme Court next month and is all but assured victory as he is cross-endorsed by Democrats and Republicans.
Judges do not speak with the media about their rulings. Al Baker, a spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration, said the court system does not comment on individual bail determinations.
"The vast majority of bail decisions turn on the court’s discretionary weighing of a broad range of factors in order to make an individualized assessment of the defendant’s risk of flight to avoid prosecution," he said in an email. "That assessment involves due consideration of information and arguments presented by the prosecutor and defense counsel, as well as other materials submitted to the court."
Anasu has shown up in court each time he was required to in both counties, including on Thursday. That appearance was simply for Fufidio to transfer the case to state Supreme Court Judge James McCarty for assignment to a trial judge. That will likely be done Oct. 22 and the trial is expected in the coming weeks.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Alleged attacker of bus driver in Yonkers is free despite multiple arrests
