Transit Police search for two men in spitting incidents in Malden, Charelstown

By Melissa M. Werthmann, Globe Correspondent

MBTA Transit Police are looking for a pair of suspects after two MBTA bus drivers were spat upon in separate incidents, according to a Transit Police statement.

“Bus operators should not be subjected to this disgusting criminal conduct,” Transit Police Superintendent Joseph O’Connor said in a statement. “We will work to identify suspects and bring them into the court system.”

The most recent incident occurred at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday near the intersection of Main and Forest streets in Malden, Transit Police said.

A man who claimed the bus driver did not stop at his stop, spat on the driver, hit him in the right shoulder, and then fled, Transit Police said.

Transit Police described the suspect as a white male, 40 to 55 years old, with a small build, wearing glasses, light blue jeans, a light-colored shirt, black jacket, gray sneakers, and carrying a black suitcase with wheels.

A previous incident of assault and battery happened at 2:30 p.m. last Thursday near the intersection of Washington and Harvard streets in Charlestown, Transit Police said.

The suspect spat on a bus driver and then fled the area.

The man is described as a black male, 5 feet 7 inches to 5 feet 9 inches tall, with a medium build, in his late teens to early 20s, wearing a light blue baseball cap, a gray thigh-length jacket, jeans, and sneakers, Transit Police said in a statement.

There have been 85 reported assaults on MBTA employees so far this year, agency spokesman Joseph Pesaturo said in a statement. That is seven more assaults than this time last year, he said.

Transit Police urged anyone with information to call the Criminal Investigations Unit at 617-222-1050 or the Intelligence Unit at 617-222-1170.

Anonymous tips can be sent through the MBTA See Say smartphone app or by texting 873873.