KENNESAW, Ga. (AP) - Authorities say a bus driver is recovering after being stabbed repeatedly with a pen northwest of Atlanta.

Cobb County police say the melee on the Cobb County Transit bus began when the driver tried to break up a dispute on the bus in Kennesaw Monday afternoon. Police say the fight was over a cell phone.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that the driver went to the back of the bus to keep the quarrel from escalating, and a woman pulled a knife.

Authorities say other passengers were able to get the knife away from the woman, but police say she grabbed a pen from the bus driver's pocket and stabbed him several times.

The bus driver's condition was not immediately known.

Kennesaw is about 25 miles northwest of Atlanta.

      

Information from: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, www.ajc.com.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)