When people picture joyrides, they imagine a teenager spinning donuts or blowing through stop signs. However, a man in Canada had different plans when he stole an articulated city bus on Tuesday. A 36-year-old joyrider decided to make stops while collecting fares and dropping off passengers in Hamilton, Ontario. Despite getting lost, the local police even complimented the man’s driving after arresting him on several charges, including obstructing the police.
The bus’s actual driver pulled into MacNab Bus Terminal at around 9 p.m. and hopped off for a break. That’s when the man boarded the bus, hopped in the driver’s seat and drove away with passengers onboard. According to CBC News, the passengers didn’t realize the joyrider wasn’t the real operator until he made a wrong turn and left the scheduled route. They didn’t panic or scramble to escape. Instead, they gave the driver directions to safely reach their destinations.
He did a great job, said Hamilton Police Service spokesperson
Now, our hard-working joyrider wasn’t alone for long. Local police contacted the Hamilton Street Railway, the city’s public transit agency, to get the GPS location of the bus and tail the joyrider. According to the Hamilton Police Service, the man even denied entry to someone trying to board with an expired bus pass. I know we shouldn’t condone anyone fare-dodging, but there should be an exception made if the bus was stolen. A police spokesperson even said, “There was not a ding on the bus. He did a great job. It’s comical but at the same time it’s serious. We’re thankful nobody was hurt.”
Police arrested the joyrider during one of his stops, approximately 15 minutes after he stole the bus. Thankfully, law enforcement showed restraint and didn’t try to start a pursuit through city streets. Hamilton police also haven’t released the driver’s name because the service believes “there could be a mental health component” to the incident. I’m just glad that everyone made their stop and no one was hurt. It was a much calmer ending compared to last year’s New York Subway joyride, when two teens stole and crashed a train into another parked train.
