Rochester, N.Y. – Every day for 15 years, Dave Cooper walked and biked to his job as a bus driver for the Regional Transit Service.
On October 4 at about 4 a.m. on Atlantic Ave. near Greenleaf, Cooper noticed a man following him. He opened his phone to dial 911. But it was too late.
“I yelled, ‘Help!’ I hit the button, but I guess call didn’t go through and then he started beating me with a club or something,” Cooper said.
The attacker took Cooper’s wallet and laptop computer.
Cooper was severely beaten.
“I had to have this part of my face repaired, the orbital and then my nose was broken and my fingers were broken also,” he said.
Cooper was unconscious. A passerby took him to the bus center, where Cooper wanted to check in before going to the hospital. He didn’t want his bosses to think he didn’t show up to work.
Cooper wasn’t able to identify a suspect, because it was dark outside.
“I don’t understand why he did it. Maybe he needed money for drugs,” he said. “It was a terrible crime and I wouldn’t want that to happen to anybody else.”
Cooper no longer walks to work.
“It bothers me because I enjoy walking,” he said. “I don’t feel like I can walk, feel safe walking anymore after dark.”
If you have any information about this crime, you're asked to call CrimeStoppers at 423-9300.
