A stolen school bus was involved in a high-speed chase with Saint John police Thursday morning on Highway 7 on the outskirts of the New Brunswick city.
Officers tried to stop the bus by using a spike belt to flatten the tires. Police spokesperson Sgt. Charles Breen said the bus was stolen by a lone male.
However, the bus then led police on a pursuit onto Highway 7 where it continued until the Grand Bay/Westfield exit.
Breen said one of the police vehicles which laid the spike belt tried to stop the bus, but the vehicle was rammed by the bus, forcing the driver officer to flee for his own safety.
The driver lost control of the bus because of the flattened tires, causing it to go off the road. Breen said at least two police vehicles were extensively damaged in the incident.
“We weren’t sure why the bus was taken, who was operating the bus, so we were very concerned about public safety,” Breen said.
There were no injuries in the incident. The driver was arrested at the scene.
“We came across the cars off the side of the road and in the ditch and stuff that the school bus rammed off,” said Natasha Brooks, who videotaped part of the incident.
Bus stolen from regular driver’s home
In a statement from the Anglophone South School District, the board says the regular bus driver arrived at home at 10:45 a.m. and shut the bus off while she went inside her home to get something, before leaving for another run.
The district says the driver had left the keys in the bus, and shortly after she entered her home, she heard the bus running again in her yard. When she went back outside, she saw the bus being stolen.
The district said the driver called police and district personnel immediately to report the theft.
— With files from Andrew Cromwell, Global News.