Cops: Suffolk bus driver pleads not guilty to rape charge

A Suffolk County Transit bus driver pleaded not guilty Sunday to charges he held a lone female passenger captive aboard a bus and attempted to rape her, State Police said.

Richard T. Downes, 43, of Middle Island, who works for an outside contractor, was arrested Saturday after the passenger told police Downes pulled his bus over on County Road 51 near the Riverhead County Center and tried to rape her.

Downes was arraigned Sunday at Southampton Town Court on charges of unlawful imprisonment and attempted rape. Bail was set at $1,000 and he was taken to Riverhead Correctional Facility, authorities said.

Downes had not made bail as of Sunday and is due back in court July 22, according to an employee at the Suffolk County sheriff's records department at the Riverhead jail.

Downes has a 1987 criminal conviction for weapons possession, according to court records. In that case, Downes, who was living in Brooklyn, was charged with two counts of felony weapons possession. He pleaded guilty to one charge and was sentenced to 5 years' probation. In 1989, he pleaded guilty to attempted unauthorized use of a vehicle, according to court records. The terms of that sentence were not available.

The outside contractor that supplied Downes' services as a driver, Sunrise Coach Lines of Greenport, ran a fingerprint and background check on Downes and he passed, said Robert Shinnick, the county director of transportation operations.

In the Saturday allegation, State Police said the passenger told them she was the lone rider on the 8A bus at about 2:50 p.m. when Downes suddenly pulled the bus over. She told police Downes started talking to her, then forced her to the back of the bus and tried to rape her. After she fought back, police said, Downes gave up and resumed driving, dropping her off in Riverhead.

She approached a Riverhead Town police officer, who took her to State Police because they have jurisdiction in Southampton Town, where the alleged crime occurred. Troopers found the bus on Route 24 off the Long Island Expressway and arrested Downes.

Shinnick said Suffolk County owns the bus system but contracts out maintenance, repairs and driving. Contractors must perform fingerprint and background checks. Sunrise told the county that it followed the law in vetting and hiring Downes, Shinnick said.