MONTEREY PARK — Deputies sought the public’s help Friday tracking down a man who stabbed another man in the throat during an unprovoked attack on a commuter bus last month.
The stabbing, which detectives are investigating as an attempted murder, took place at 7:17 p.m. Nov. 3 on a Metropolitan Transit Authority bus as it made it’s way through Monterey Park, Officials from the Los Angeles County sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau said. The attack, which was captured on surveillance video, took place as the bus was at Atlantic Boulevard and Garvey Avenue.
Both the victim and suspect boarded the bus about the same time just before the incident, sheriff’s officials said in a written statement.
The assailant in the seemingly random attack was not believed to know his victim, officials added.
“The victim stated that the suspect got up from his seat, and thought he was exiting the bus. Instead the suspect, unprovoked, stabbed the victim in the throat with a knife or other sharp object and ran off the bus,” according to the statement. “Detectives also confirmed this via the bus video.”
Investigators described the unidentified suspect was described as a about 30 years old, Latino, 6 feet tall, 200 pounds, with short black or brown hair, a mustache and a goatee. He wore a light-colored shirt and dark shorts when the stabbing took place.
The stabbing victim, a 54-year-old East Los Angeles man, was initially hospitalized in serious condition, but was expected to make a full recovery, sheriff’s spokeswoman Nicole Nishida said.
Detective Kyle Ynclan of the Sheriff’s Transportation Services Bureau said Metro buses and trains are generally “a very safe mode of transportation.”
“That’s why when someone commits a crime like this, he must be brought to justice,” the detective said.
With the attacker’s image captured on surveillance footage,  “there are times like these when we need the public to help identify a criminal like this so that we can stop them from committing another crime.”
Anyone with information was asked to contact the Sheriff’s Transit Services Bureau at 323-8563-5000. Tips may also be submitted anonymously via L.A. Crime Stoppers at 800-222-8477.