Bus Fight Turns Bloody as Sword-Wielding Attacker Slashes Victim

A man was arrested after he allegedly attacked a city bus passenger with a "Japanese-like sword" in New Mexico earlier this week.

Law enforcement responded to the bloody scene on Tuesday afternoon after receiving a call from a bus driver, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

A Bernalillo County sheriff's deputy reportedly witnessed a significant amount of blood on the front of the victim's jacket. The person was also "bleeding severely from a laceration to the left eye socket and from a laceration from the left ear [lobe]," according to the Journal.

The bus driver reportedly claimed that two male passengers had started arguing as he was driving, so he pulled over. Then, he saw suspect Brian Lee flash his still-sheathed "Japanese-like sword."

After the driver demanded that the 24-year-old exit the vehicle, he reportedly began to physically fight with the other passenger.

Next, "Lee was pushed off the bus," per the Journal. But the suspect then allegedly unsheathed his weapon before reentering the vehicle and charging the victim.

"Once back on the bus, the offender swung the sword with the sharp side facing [the victim]. The sword connected with [the victim], causing the severe laceration to the left side of his face," a criminal complaint states, according to the Journal.

After that, the suspect was said to have fled the scene.

Authorities later looked at a surveillance video that further showed what happened. In the complaint, the sheriff's deputy wrote what he saw in the video.

"I can clearly see...the offender connecting with [the victim's] head, which caused him to drop to the ground. While on the ground, the offender lost control of the sword by swinging with so much force [that] it caused the offender to [lose] grip and drop the sword," the deputy stated in the complaint.

"After the sword was on the ground, the offender still intended to hit [the victim] on the head, so he began to strike [him] on the face/head multiple times with his closed fists," the deputy added.

Lee's hands reportedly still had blood on them by the time that law enforcement tracked him down. The complaint says that he attempted to offer authorities a different date of birth and name than his own.

On top of aggravated battery, Lee has been charged with concealing identification, according to local news outlet KRQE. He was booked into an area detention center.

This isn't Lee's first run-in with the law, the Journal notes. He's faced multiple previous charges of aggravated battery and battery upon a peace officer.

Newsweek reached out to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office for comment.