Man charged with battery after hitting MCTS bus driver

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – A man is facing a battery charge after hitting a Milwaukee County Transit System bus driver.

According to a criminal complaint, Christopher Mathis was charged in connection to the incident on May 24.

Court documents say Mathis got on a bus near 6th and Wisconsin and tried to pay using his metro card. The card wasn’t working and Mathis asked the bus driver if he could ride for free. The bus driver told Mathis he could not.

Authorities say Mathis then punched the partition in front of the bus driver and then hit the bus driver in the knee.

Court documents state Mathis later told police he hit the bus driver because he is homeless and needed to go to jail.

He faces up to 3 and a half years in prison and a $10,000 fine.