By Amanda Cedrone – Boston Globe – Dec. 21, 2011

A trolley driver on the Mattapan High Speed Line was brought to the hospital Tuesday after he was hit in the face by a 17-year-old, officials said.

Tyron Higgins of Roxbury was taken into custody by MBTA Transit Police Tuesday afternoon for punching the driver at the Mattapan stop, said Joseph O’Connor, deputy chief of the MBTA Transit Police.

Higgins allegedly hit the operator on the right side of his face when the driver asked him to pay his fare, O’Connor said.

Transit police officers at the station found Higgins a short time later inside a nearby store and arrested him.

“There’s been an increase in assaults on operators,” O’Connor said. “In many instances, it begins over operators attempting to do their job by collecting fares.”

Higgins was arraigned this morning in Dorchester District Court on charges of assault and battery on a public employee, and interfering with a bus driver, said Erika Gully-Santiago, assistant Suffolk County district attorney.

He was held on $3,000 cash bail, and ordered to stay away from the victim. He is expected to return to court Jan. 18.

Amanda Cedrone can be reached at acedrone@globe.com.