A 36-year-old man has been arrested after taking control of a city bus parked at McNab Terminal in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, and driving it around the city for about 15 minutes with 10 passengers on board.
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According to information from Canadian website CBC, the incident occurred around 9 p.m. after the official driver got out of an articulated vehicle parked for a break. The individual got into the car, got behind the wheel and headed towards an area known as Mt.
Along the way, the man made several stops and allowed passengers to board and alight at points along the way. According to police, there were an average of 10 passengers and crew on board. In fact, most of them did not realize at first that the improvised driver was not an official driver.
Suspicion only arose when he began to turn in a direction different from the planned route and passengers advised him to return to the correct path. Police said the fake driver even refused to ride to someone with an expired pass and acted “as if he were the real driver.”
Despite the severity of the incident, police spokesperson Trevor McKenna said there was “no damage” to the bus.
— He did a great job. It’s comical, but also serious at the same time. We are grateful that no one was injured,” the deputy said.
Police worked with Hamilton Street Railway to track the group from a distance, using the vehicles’ GPS to monitor the route. The operation was carried out carefully and no sirens were sounded so as not to scare the men. McKenna said the idea wasn’t to scare him.
— We didn’t want this to be a tragedy.
The bus was intercepted when it stopped on West 5th Street, and the man was arrested without resistance. He faces charges of theft, interfering with police and driving while prohibited. The man’s name is not being released because there may be “mental health elements” involved in the incident, McKenna said.
Nancy Purser, the city’s transportation director, said the city is considering preventive measures to avoid similar accidents.