Bus driver attacker sentenced to 4 years; transit safety rally held

Curtis Baker Spence, 21, was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for his role in a brutal assault on Calgary transit operator Amarjit Grewal in May 2025.

Grewal, 67 at the time, was attacked on his bus in the early morning hours of May 14, 2025, at a stop in northeast Calgary. Baker Spence beat Grewal with a baton while his brother, 23-year-old Darryl Flett, used a sharp-edged weapon. Grewal shielded his face and head with his hands and arms, suffering lasting injuries to his hand. He remains unable to work since the incident.

Justice Frederick Fisher sentenced Baker Spence on Friday after prosecutors argued for four-and-a-half years and the defence sought three-and-a-half years. With credit for time spent in custody pending sentencing, Baker Spence has 28 months remaining to serve.

Prosecutor Greg Piper described Baker Spence as having a "horrific record for violence," noting that Baker Spence had been released from jail just two weeks before the assault, having served time for previous crimes of violence. "It is a miracle, frankly, that the injuries were not worse than they were or even fatal," Piper said.

Flett pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and will be sentenced in August. Baker Spence pleaded guilty to robbery and breaching a release condition.

Friday afternoon, transit workers, union representatives, and city officials gathered outside city hall to call for stronger sentencing in cases involving assaults on transit operators. Mayor Jeromy Farkas said plainly: "If you assault a transit operator, you need to go to jail." The rally, coordinated by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583, urged courts to apply Section 269.01 of the Criminal Code, which mandates that a victim's status as a public transit operator be treated as an aggravating factor in sentencing.