Bus Driver Sentenced in Sexual Attack on Passenger

An RTD bus driver who sexually assaulted a female passenger and allegedly attempted to rape a second was sentenced Monday to six months in Los Angeles County Jail.

Darryl Darnell Brooks, 41, an RTD driver since 1984, pleaded no contest May 11 to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse for the attack on a 17-year-old passenger in South-Central Los Angeles last Oct. 18, Deputy Dist. Atty. Sindee Kerker said.

In accordance with the terms of a plea bargain, prosecutors Monday dropped a charge of attempted rape involving an assault on a female passenger in Eagle Rock 11 days later. That attack was interrupted when a would-be passenger banged on the bus door, seeking information about the route, officials said.

In both incidents, authorities said, Brooks waited until his bus was otherwise empty before pulling the victims to the back of the bus and attacking them.

Kerker said a plea bargain was agreed to because of anticipated difficulties in proving the case to a jury.

“We feel he committed these crimes, but, based on what evidence we have and what’s available, we couldn’t prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” she said.

Brooks, who was fired shortly after his arrest last November, could have faced 12 years in state prison if convicted of all charges. As part of the plea bargain, he will serve five years’ formal probation after his release.