MBTA driver helps thwart alleged grope dope

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A heroic MBTA bus driver is winning praise for protecting a 29-year-old woman from an accused groper who allegedly harassed her on a late-night ride, rubbed up against her and later chased her down a street.

Rayfield McCants, 28, was arraigned in Boston Municipal Court yesterday and ordered held on $5,000 cash bail.

The Cambridge man is charged with indecent assault and battery in connection with the disturbing incident that started around 11 p.m. Tuesday on the Route 43 bus.

T driver Patrick Coughlan, 42, said the woman got on the nearly empty bus at Park Street and McCants boarded at Boylston Street. With 40 open seats available, McCants sat next to the woman and started talking to her, Coughlan said.

“I thought right away he was going to be a problem,” Coughlan told reporters during a press conference yesterday.

He said he overheard McCants say several sexually explicit words to the woman. “I could tell he was bothering her,” he said.

As the bus neared the Wang Center in the Theater District, Coughlan told McCants to move away. At one point, McCants allegedly rubbed his backside against the woman as she tried to get up, Coughlan said.

As the alleged harassment continued, Coughlan called a T inspector for help and stopped the bus at Dartmouth and Tremont streets, he said.

The woman got off and walked up Tremont Street as Coughlan waited with McCants. But after a few seconds, McCants allegedly darted off and chased after the woman, he said.

“He came up behind her and she turned around and screamed,” Coughlan said.

At that point, Coughlan urged the woman to get back in the bus.

“I beeped the horn and waved her on (the bus),” he said. “She was visibly upset and shaking.”

T inspector Leon Saunders, 60, arrived on scene and helped comfort the woman until police and her husband arrived.

“She was very highly shaken up,” he said.

McCants was detained by a private security company until police arrived. His attorney could not be reached.

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