Muni driver assaulted through bus window

A San Francisco Municipal Railway bus driver was assaulted by a pedestrian early Thursday morning in The City’s South of Market area.

The driver was parked in the 200 block of Folsom Street near Main Street just before 3 a.m. in an outbound 38-Geary bus when she was approached by a pedestrian, according to police and Muni officials.

The pedestrian walked up to the driver’s window, which was partially opened, and started to pull on her jacket, pulling her toward the window, police Officer Giselle Talkoff said.

The driver hit the suspect several times in self-defense and the suspect hit her back before eventually fleeing the scene, Talkoff said.

The victim heard something fall and saw a knife on the ground, but told officers that the suspect never brandished it or attacked her with it.

The driver was taken to a hospital as a precautionary measure, but did not suffer serious injuries.

Police are investigating the incident and are looking for any surveillance video from the area. It was unclear as of this afternoon whether the suspect was male or female, with police saying only that they may have been somewhere in their 30s to 50s.