Woman's story about spat over Toronto bus seat goes viral

Can this happen in a "Danfo, Molue or BRT Bus"

The Toronto Transit Commission is investigating after a woman posted her story about a nasty spat with a bus passenger over an unoccupied seat.

Brenda Davie posted the details of the alleged encounter on her Facebook page Wednesday night.

She said that after asking a man to remove his bag from an empty bus seat, he allegedly stomped on her foot and pushed her. She took photos of the alleged passenger to accompany her post.

Davie said she boarded the "packed" 72 Pape bus after work Wednesday and asked a fellow passenger if he could move his bag off the seat so she could sit down.

The passenger pictured in her photos is wearing a green shirt and black bowler hat. Davie said he refused, telling her that his bag was occupying the seat.

After explaining to the man that the bus was crowded and his bag didn't need a seat of its own, Davie said he told her "get the F--- away from me airhead, the seat is occupied."

She said he then stomped on her foot and pushed her back into the crowd on the bus.

As of Thursday afternoon her post had been shared more than 3,000 times. It has also been posted to the Toronto sub-page on the social networking service Reddit.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross told CTV Toronto that the transit commission has reached out to Davie and encouraged her to contact them.

"I have advised her that police are aware as well, and if she wishes to pursue the incident with police then she should contact them. But we at the TTC are also looking into the matter," he said in a phone interview.

He added that the TTC will review security camera footage to see if there are any images of the alleged assault. Any such images will be forwarded to the police, if needed, Ross said.

Ross stressed that TTC passengers must remember that seats are for people, not for bags.

"Knapsacks, briefcases, parcels… they belong either on the floor or on your lap," he said. "Clearly, the bags aren't paying a fare; bags don't belong on seats."

He said passengers who encounter similar situations should advise the TTC operator, rather than get into a confrontation that may result in a physical altercation.