Overview

• U.S. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy told the MBTA it risks federal transit funds and requested a safety plan detailing crime deterrence, fare evasion enforcement, and security spending.
• Luz Pineda, 32, pleaded not guilty to assault and battery on an elder with injury; a judge set $5,000 bail with orders to avoid the victim, witnesses, and all MBTA property, with a pretrial hearing on Oct. 3.
• Prosecutors say the Sept. 8 confrontation on the No. 28 bus at MLK Jr. Boulevard and Warren Street left the 63-year-old victim with a concussion, a facial cut, and a ruptured blood vessel, and she has no memory of the fall.
• Investigators identified Pineda using a passenger’s cellphone video corroborated by bus surveillance and public tips; they say she was with a 3-month-old and altered her appearance after leaving the bus.
• MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng praised Transit Police and reiterated safety commitments, while local reports described bystanders waiting roughly 10–20 minutes for paramedics to arrive.