A Greyhound bus driver was attacked by a Los Angeles man named Maquel Donyel Morris, who was hallucinating during a trip from Los Angeles heading east, forcing the bus off the road, according to the Associated Press.
The bus was traveling on the eastbound side of Interstate 10 in western Arizona with 41 passengers on board, plus the driver, when the incident occurred around 2 a.m. on Thursday, the AP reported.
Arizona Department of Public Safety spokesman Bart Graves reported the attacker seemed to be hallucinating and said he wanted to get off the bus, the AP reported.
While the attacker was beating on the driver, forcing the bus off the road, Graves said other "passengers descended on him," in an effort to make him stop, according to the AP.
Harquahala Fire District Chief Dan Caudle told KPHO-TV the attacker "basically went berserk in the bus and grabbed control of vehicle," the AP reported.
After attacking the driver and forcing the bus off the road, the attacker and his companion ran off the bus and into the desert, but were later found and brought in to be arrested 30 minutes later, according to the AP.
He was hospitalized for a drug-induced condition, Grave reported, according to the AP. Morris, 25, was taken to jail on counts of endangerment, assault and aggravated assault.
Morris forced the bus across the highway median and the bus only came to a stop before entering westbound traffic because of the passengers who were restraining the attacker, Arizona DPS officials said, according to the AP.
The bus did not topple over and state police reported 24 of the passengers were injured, the AP reported.
Caudle said the bus driver "did a good job of maintaining control" and aided in stopping the bus before it ran into rocks and bushes, according to the AP.
"I thought we were all gonna die," Chrissy Sanchez told KTVK-TV, the AP reported. "I woke up to this commotion. I remember hearing screaming ... I realized we were not on the road anymore."
Another bus was sent to the location and transported about 20 uninjured passengers to Phoenix where they would each continue to their destinations, the AP reported.
