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Dallas-Bound Greyhound Bus Crashes In Arizona After Rider Attacks Driver; Two Dozen Injured

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A passenger attacked the driver of a Dallas-bound Greyhound bus early Thursday morning, causing a crash on Interstate 10 in western Arizona that left 24 people injured, state police said.

The bus was heading east from Los Angeles when the crash occurred near Tonopah shortly before 2 a.m. Thursday.

The bus crossed the highway median, but came to a stop before entering westbound traffic when other passengers restrained the man who had been pummeling the driver, Arizona Department of Public Safety said.

The bus remained upright and none of the 24 people taken to hospitals had life-threatening injuries, the DPS said.

While he was being pummeled, the driver called for passengers to "get this guy off me," passenger Gregory Ford told KNXV-TV.

"The passengers descended on him," DPS spokesman Bart Graves told The Associated Press.

Graves said the attacker reportedly was hallucinating and indicated he wanted to get off the bus. The man was taken to a hospital for a drug-induced condition, Graves said.

The alleged attacker and a female companion got off the bus when it stopped and ran off into the desert, but he was arrested when they returned 30 minutes later, the DPS said.

Maquel Donyel Morris, 25, of Los Angeles will be booked into jail on suspicion of numerous counts of endangerment, assault and aggravated assault, the DPS said.

Greyhound spokeswoman Alexandra Pedrini said the bus was carrying 41 passengers, plus the driver.

A relief bus was sent to the accident scene to take the nearly 20 uninjured passengers to Phoenix so they could continue to their final destinations, she said.