Bus Vandalized After Driver Becomes Ill : Sherman Oaks: While one passenger calls 911, others spray graffiti inside and rip out a rear panel. The employee was taken to the hospital and released.

A transit bus driver pulled over his vehicle in Sherman Oaks because he was suffering from chest pains, and as a passenger telephoned for help, youths ripped apart and spray-painted the interior of the bus, officials said Wednesday.

The driver, Robert Powell, 53, stopped the bus as he headed east on Ventura Boulevard near Beverly Glen Boulevard at 10:25 p.m. Tuesday, said Anthony Greno, a spokesman for the Southern California Rapid Transit District.

“A passenger on the bus . . . called the dispatcher and 911 to say the operator was sick,” Greno said. As he was on the phone, several other young passengers vandalized the bus.

The youths “ripped out the rear panel of the interior of the bus and sprayed graffiti,” Greno said. The bus was taken out of service for repairs.

Powell, an 18-year veteran of the RTD, was taken to Sherman Oaks Community Hospital and released a short time later, Greno said. Officials did not know the extent of his illness.

No youths were arrested in the incident, Los Angeles police said. Officers believe the teen-agers got away, Sgt. Tim Day said.

Greno said that the 24-hour bus line, known as the Los Angeles-Ventura Boulevard-Warner Center Express, is one of the most heavily traveled routes in the system.

The line is one of many that have been stricken by mounting graffiti problems and vandalism, Greno said. Tagger groups are increasingly painting or scratching insignias on the buses and tearing out seats.

Vandalism causes about $13 million in damage annually to the buses, he said. Transit police have a team of about a dozen undercover officers, known as the Graffiti Habitual Offender Suppression Team (GHOST), who try to combat such activity, he said.

RTD officials a year ago started promoting an anti-graffiti campaign to children in Los Angeles schools. Children are taken to an RTD bus yard to see damage caused to buses, and some write essays about how to stop graffiti.

The RTD, which has a fleet of about 2,400 buses, changed its name to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority last Thursday.