WATCH ABOVE: The footage shows the extent of the damage that was done to the bus after a nine-year-old boy took a joyride.
SASKATOON – Police apprehended a nine-year-old boy Saturday morning after he took a Saskatoon Transit bus for a joyride.
Shortly before 10 a.m., officers received a 911 call stating one of the city’s buses had just been stolen from the 300-block of 24th Street West, near the Saskatoon Transit maintenance garage.
“A city transit bus that had been left running, the boy put the bus into gear and drove it,” said Jeff Jorgenson, the city’s transportation and utilities department general manager.
The bus was being repaired Saturday and was left running so it could be moved to access another bus, according to the city.
Officials said they believe it was left running for 20 minutes.
Jorgenson said the front door was closed but not locked and believes the child pulled the door open. Video footage captured the child in the bus for a very short amount of time before it moved.
The bus struck another city bus that was parked and a parked vehicle.
A Saskatoon Transit operations supervisor driving northbound in a van on Idylwyld saw the bus heading southbound with the child at the wheel.
The bus came to a stop when it got hung up on a curb at Idylwyld Drive and 25th Street.
The supervisor located the bus and the boy who was turned over to police. Police say no charges will be laid due to the boy’s age.
“There’s just no doubt in my mind that the bus was left in an unsafe condition,” said Jorgenson.
No injuries were reported and damage to the buses is estimated between $1,000 and $10,000.
“This is not a case where policies need to be reviewed or practises need to be reviewed, this is a case where, from what I’ve seen, policy and procedures were very clearly violated,” said Jorgenson.
The city is in the early stages of the investigation.
WATCH BELOW: Boy steals Saskatoon Transit bus
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