A 51-year-old man who pleaded guilty to stabbing a Metropolitan Transit System bus driver in Escondido was sentenced Tuesday to more than two decades in prison, the District Attorney’s Office announced.
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Mario Felix pleaded guilty in March to stabbing the driver more than a dozen times during an attack in August 2024 and was sentenced to 26 years in prison, prosecutors said.
“No one should fear for their life as they are performing their job, especially while they are in service to others as the victim was in this case by providing transportation to commuters,” District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a news release. “I want to commend the victim for his courage in persisting in the pursuit of justice alongside our team despite all the severe injuries from this vicious attack and the emotional trauma that it caused.”
Prosecutors said that Felix attacked the driver while the bus was stopped at the Escondido Sprinter Station. Felix got onto the bus, asked for a free ride and when he was refused, became enraged.
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He then demanded the driver’s wallet, threatened to kill him and then began to stab him — all in front of the other passengers on the bus, prosecutors said.
The driver survived his injuries.
Felix was later found hiding behind a trash bin, and a bloody knife was found nearby, investigators said. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
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