Toronto Transit Commission officials are trying to figure out how a 32-year-old man managed to get inside a vacant bus parked at one of its holding facilities in the east end of the city and take if for a joyride before being arrested by police in Whitby, Ont., Tuesday morning.
“We’ll work with police in any way we can,” TTC spokesperson Mike DeToma said. “We’ve got video we can provide to the police in their investigation.”
Durham Regional Police said the bus was initially parked at the TTC’s Birchmount garage around 1:30 a.m. when at some point it was stolen and driven 35 kilometres east before being abandoned in a residential neighbourhood near the intersection of Cochrane Street and Bonacord Avenue in Whitby.
Const. George Tudos said a male caller who knew the suspect tipped off police on his whereabouts.
“We received information from a male party that he observed a TTC bus being driven by another male,” he said.
Police managed to track down the suspect at his home a few blocks away from where the TTC bus was located.
TTC officials said they are unsure how the man managed to start the bus as there is no ignition key on the vehicle and requires a unique start-up procedure.
“Birchmount is a secure garage,” DeToma said. “So if the bus was inside or outside, those are all the things we have to look at.”
DeToma added the vehicle was found in good condition and was towed back to the Birchmount garage.
The identity of the suspect has not been released and charges are pending.
-With a file from Marianne Dimain