Another would-be bus driver
It would appear that, for at least two men, driving a city bus is a dream worth breaking the law to realize. In an incident similar to another case that happened in Washington in July, Chicago transit officials say that on Sept. 9 a man stole a uniform and posed as a bus driver, driving around the city for several hours and picking up passengers, according to the Associated Press (AP). Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) President Richard Rodriguez said the man drove the bus from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Police did not release the suspect’s name, but surveillance video shows him logging in and starting the bus, according to AP. The suspect was found out when he returned the bus to a CTA garage on the city’s South Side and hit another bus. The suspect took off when a CTA employee went to get a supervisor.
In the Washington incident, police arrested 19-year-old William Jackson on July 9 after he also allegedly walked into the city’s bus storage area wearing a bus operator’s uniform and drove away with bus number 9318. Investigators believe the youth then began running the B-2 route toward Anacostia and stopped for passengers, according to local news station MyFoxDC.com. Jackson also was involved in a minor accident in the stolen bus, causing him to abandon the vehicle before being arrested.
Authorities said the Chicago suspect is acquainted with a CTA bus driver whose uniform was reported stolen last month. CTA officials said they are evaluating procedures to prevent similar incidents.