Family of Man Stabbed 33 Times on Las Vegas RTC Bus Settles Wrongful Death Case Against Keolis and RTC

On the morning of February 26, 2023, Dominique Lucas, 30, was riding a Regional Transportation Commission bus on Paradise Road in Las Vegas on his way to work as a dishwasher. Another passenger, Aaron Cole, began verbally accosting Lucas and then attacked him with a knife. Over the next several minutes, Cole stabbed Lucas 33 times while Lucas screamed at the driver to let him off the bus.

Surveillance video reviewed by a Clark County grand jury showed the attack playing out in full view of the driver's area. According to the lawsuit later filed by Lucas's parents, the driver heard the confrontation begin but took no action to stop the bus, open the doors, or give Lucas a way to escape. Four minutes passed before the vehicle stopped at Paradise near Desert Inn Road. By then, Lucas had suffered every one of his 33 stab wounds. He died at the scene.

Keolis Transit Services, which operated the bus under contract with the RTC, later stated the driver kept the doors closed out of concern that Lucas might run into traffic or that Cole could harm other passengers. The family's attorneys, Farhan Naqvi and Paul Albright, countered that the defendants had a duty to act and that RTC and Keolis had knowledge of prior violent incidents on their buses yet failed to implement adequate safety measures or train drivers for exactly this kind of emergency.

The wrongful death lawsuit, filed June 30, 2023 in Clark County, named the RTC, Keolis, and bus driver Marvin Scott as defendants. The complaint alleged negligence, reckless disregard for passenger safety, and failure to intervene despite a clear and ongoing threat to a rider's life.

In late March 2026, court documents confirmed the parties had settled. The RTC confirmed that Keolis resolved the matter directly with Lucas's family. The settlement amount was kept confidential at the family's request. The criminal case against Cole, who faces open murder charges and a potential death penalty, remains pending.