BANGOR, Maine — Bangor police said Thursday that a 12-year-old boy stole a bus Tuesday and went on a brief joy ride before a couple of good Samaritans intervened.
“When you are 12 years old, there is no better way to get around than climbing on a school bus and just relaxing. Just letting the guy in the front, take you where you need to go,” Sgt. Tim Cotton said in a post on the Bangor Police Department’s Facebook page.
“The issue that we see here is that a 12-year-old is driving the bus. Yes, he stole it,” Cotton said in the post.
Cotton said the bus theft came to light when John W. St. Germain III and his girlfriend saw the bus being driven by someone who appeared too young to have a license. They began following the bus and called the police around 7:38 p.m. The incident was captured on a cellphone video.
St. Germain waited until the bus stopped at the intersection of Griffin and Ohio streets, where he got out of the car and was able to get onto the bus, taking control of it, Cotton said.
Cotton said the 12-year-old was taken into custody and charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and driving without a license.
“[St. Germain] probably saved much property damage and even injury or death to an innocent driver or the (not so innocent) driver of the bus,” Cotton said.
On Wednesday, Officer Jose Vidaurri presented St. Germain a Bangor Police Department Challenge Coin.