Man charged with punching bus driver in Hanover Park

A Chicago man is being held in Cook County Jail on an aggravated battery charge after he attacked a Pace bus driver in Hanover Park, authorities said.

David Wiggins, 41, of the 11400 block of S. Martin Luther King Drive, was a passenger on Pace bus 2718 at about 8:20 a.m. Feb. 17 when he walked up to the driver and punched him several times, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorney Katherine Levine said at Wiggins’ bond hearing Saturday morning in Cook County circuit court in Rolling Meadows. The attack happened at the intersection of West Lake Street and Barrington Road, Levine said. Wiggins fled on foot, but was apprehended nearby by Hanover Park police a short time later, she said.

Wiggins was identified by the bus driver and two witnesses, Levine said. The bus driver told police the attack was unprovoked, which was confirmed by authorities when they reviewed video taken by cameras on the bus, she added.

Wiggins, formerly of Hanover Park, is currently is on parole after an eight-year prison sentence stemming from a 2006 conviction for the armed robbery of a gas station in Streamwood.

Wiggins has an extensive criminal background, Levine said, including a 2003 conviction for retail theft and a conviction for residential burglary in 1998 that resulted in a six-year sentence.

Wiggins has been working for a temporary agency for the past two years, Assistant Public Defender Melissa Wright said. He is due in court next at 1:30 p.m. March 7.