Two men arrested, accused of attacking RTA driver in Kettering Saturday night

KETTERING — An RTA driver was hospitalized after police say he was attacked by two men in Kettering on Saturday night, according to a Kettering Police spokesperson and incident report.

The incident occured Saturday just before 8 p.m. in the parking lot directly in front of the laundromat, which sits next to ‘The Market’ liquor store on Wilmington Pike, according to a police incident report obtained in a News Center 7 public records request.

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Police were called to the parking lot after receiving 911 calls that multiple people were attacking an RTA driver and then left the scene, police stated in the incident report.

Police found the RTA driver, a 31-year-old man, had cuts on his face and “obvious it would need stitches close to the cut.” The driver was later taken to Miami Valley Hospital South for treatment of his injuries, the police spokesperson said.

When officers arrived on scene they found a white RTA van with pieces of broken glass, a van mirror on the ground, a cell phone and other objects lying near the van, police reported. Officers noted the driver’s side mirror was broken off and hanging from electrical wiring.

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When officers arrived on scene, the driver reported to police he was at the liquor store parking lot to drop off a wheelchair passenger. When the RTA driver tried to leave, he approached an SUV that was parked in front of the van that was blocking the RTA driver’s way to get out, he told investigators.

Two men, later identified as Daniel Buntin, 56, of Muncie, Indiana, Kory Buntin, 24, of Clarksville, Tennessee, and a third person, identified as a 22-year-old woman, were inside the SUV. The RTA driver, who is listed in the police report as a Black man, told officers the Buntins called him a racial slur, which he said he responded by “smack(ing)” the rear taillight of the SUV the Buntins were in.

The driver claimed both men then attacked him by throwing several punches. During the altercation two mirrors on the RTA van were broken-off before the drove away from the parking lot, the driver said in his statement.

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After realizing their cell phone was left behind at the scene, Daniel and Kory responded to the Kettering Police Department and talked where investigators.

“Daniel claimed that the driver had sucker punched him however, I watched the video, which showed a different result,” police said in their incident report.

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Following the police investigation, officers later charged Daniel with assault and vandalism while Kory was charged with assault. Both were later booked into the Kettering City Jail, however neither man is listed as an inmate as of Monday night.

Additional details were not available. We’ll continue to update this story as we learn more.

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