A 28-year-old woman and 37-year-old man have been charged in connection with a violent bus assault and robbery last month that left a 61-year-old Burnaby woman with a broken arm, cracked sternum and head trauma.
According to Metro Vancouver Transit Police, the Burnaby woman boarded a bus at the Surrey Central SkyTrain station on March 20.
After she sat down, she got into an altercation with a second woman who said she was saving the seat and who then allegedly used her hip and shoulder to force the Burnaby woman off the seat and onto the floor, according to police.
After a man sat down beside the second woman, the victim tried to take a photo of them with her phone, but the female suspect allegedly grabbed the phone from her and threw it on the floor.
She then allegedly grabbed the victim by the hair and pulled her body over the back of the seat, hitting her head and chest on the metal handrail repeatedly while threatening to kill her, according to police.
The husband separated the two women and allegedly grabbed the victim’s phone from another passenger who had picked it up off the floor.
The two suspects then got off the bus at King George Boulevard and 88th Avenue.
The victim tried to follow them to get her phone back, but the man threw it on the ground.
After publishing a photo of the pair on March 25, transit police received more than 100 tips from the public.
The two suspects have now been identified as Cristina Sasha Ponce and Dylan James Miranda, both of Surrey and both well known to police, according to a transit police press release.
Miranda turned himself in to police last week and has been charged with assault, theft and mischief.
Ponce turned herself in to transit police on Tuesday and has been charged with robbery, assault causing bodily harm, uttering threats and theft.
Ponce is currently in custody, and her next court appearance is scheduled for April 6 in Surrey Provincial Court.
