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Vail police arrest Greyhound bus passenger

The driver safely pulled this Greyhound bus safely to the side of Interstate 70 near Vail, when she was attacked by passenger Ro Tin. No one was injured and Tin was arrested.
Photo by Walt Bujaryn via Denver’s 9News |

VAIL — A Burmese man was so combative with detention deputies that they still had not been able to snap his mug shot more than 30 hours after he had been arrested.

That’s the same sort of behavior that witnesses on the bus say landed Ro Tin in this predicament in the first place.

Tin’s court initial appearance was postponed from Friday morning to Friday afternoon because the judge had trouble rounding up an interpreter fluent in Burmese, on the day before the three-day Memorial Day weekend.



Tin has been charged with endangering transportation, a Class 3 felony, and three misdemeanors.

His bond was being held on $20,000 bond at the Eagle County jail, up from the $15,000 bond when he was originally booked Thursday afternoon.

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What police say happened

A busload of 45 people “restrained” Tin as he attacked their driver while the 40,000-pound Greyhound bus motored along Interstate 70.

Witnesses told Vail police that at about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Tin, 26, a citizen of Burma, approached the driver of the eastbound bus. They said Tin climbed under a plastic partition that separates the driver from the passengers and, unprovoked, started hitting the driver’s arms and hands.

The driver, a 50-year old female, managed to safely stop the eastbound bus on the side of I-70 in Vail.

Tin was on his way to Michigan, with a stop scheduled in Denver, police said.

Vail police said several alert passengers leaped to the driver’s aid, and restrained the suspect as the man allegedly fought with other riders.

The Vail Public Safety Communications Center received multiple 911 calls.

“He went up to her,” a female passenger told Denver’s Channel 9 News. “She said something like, hey you can’t be up here. He went right under and started beating the crap out of her. Just like that. He just snapped, we don’t know why.”

Vail police immediately arrested Tin without incident when they arrived moments later.

Eagle County Paramedic Services treated and released the driver. Tin was taken to the Vail Valley Medical Center where he was treated for lacerations and injuries sustained during the struggle, as he was being restrained by the other passengers. No other passengers were injured.

Greyhound had high praise for its driver.

“The driver followed proper procedure and safely pulled the bus over and called the local authorities,” said Lanesha Gipson, senior communications specialist with Greyhound Lines, Inc.

Greyhound fully cooperated with local authorities as they handled the incident. A relief bus picked up the other customers to continue to their destination, Gipson said.

“We have a zero tolerance policy with regard to unruly or aggressive customers,” Gipson said. “Any such behavior is considered a serious offense and the customer will be removed from the bus. Drivers are trained to pull the bus over in a safe location and remove the customer acting inappropriately. If the driver feels it is unsafe to remove the unruly or aggressive customer on their own, they will call the local authorities for assistance.”

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 or rwyrick@vaildaily.com.


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