MBTA Bus Driver Held After Violent Confrontation

Man hospitalized after encounter

LYNN — On his way home at 10:45 p.m. Tuesday, Matthew Theisz missed his stop and ended up in Lynn’s Central Square, where he said he needed help finding a bus to Revere.

He approached MBTA bus driver Derek Smith. The encounter turned violent, though the men gave differing accounts of how they came to blows, a prosecutor said.

Now, the 40-year-old Smith is being held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing after police charged him with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

A spokesman for the T said Smith, hired by the transit agency four years ago, has been suspended without pay.
“The MBTA regrets the pain caused by this behavior,” said Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. “No one should have to endure something like this.”