Crime

In New York Area, Stealing Buses is Easy

Need a job? Want to drive a bus? In the New York/New Jersey area, you don’t even need a commercial license to get the keys to one — they’re sitting out in the open for the taking.

After a man recently stole a bus and drove it to Kennedy Airport, the New York Daily News thought it would see if the feat could be repeated. The answer is “yes!”

Reporter Mike Jaccarino recounts:

Amazingly, Trailways [the bus company] had left the keys in the ignition again. I got behind the wheel and started the engine, heard its growl and felt its rumble. I resisted the temptation to drive off, turned off the bus and slowly walked out as if nothing happened.
But as if that isn’t bad enough, another Daily News reporter, Lore Croghan, did the same thing at the same bus depot the following day:

Sunday afternoon when I showed up, the depot gate was open wide. I walked right in. I was plenty conspicuous, carrying a big leather-bound notebook and wearing a floor-length skirt that couldn‘t be mistaken for a bus driver’s uniform. But there wasn’t a living soul to notice me.

After finding a bus she liked, she looked in and “saw a silvery key gleaming in the ignition. The passenger door opened with a flick of my wrist. I stepped right in, no problem. It was mine for the taking.”

The bus depot would not respond to the Daily News‘s request for comment. The man who took the bus on a joyride to Kennedy Airport claims he has stolen 150 buses in the last decade.

Comments (3)

  • Austin from BOSTON
    Posted on September 7, 2010 at 12:35pm

    I Have Driven Busses Since 1967 Picking Up Kids AT The Black-Panther Headquarters,Going To WASHINGTON With Busses Unsafe & ILLEGAL To Drive, But The UNION Said It Was O.K.Until I Pulled A Strike After We Got Our Union-Agent Drunk & Received His Permission To STRIKE!! I Had TO Get A Pardon From The Governor Of MA So I Could Drive A GREYHOUND-Bus From 1972 Till A STRIKE In 1983, Where Was The Media When EVERY GREYHOUND IN America Had No KEYS In ANY Coach & Every Thief KNEW Where The KILL-SWTICH On The DASH Was?? Another Free-Tip>.

    Report Post » Austin from boston  
  • missmarie
    Posted on September 7, 2010 at 11:47am

    I, for one, am concerned that potential weapons are up for grabs throughout this country. Are there really so few that remember? Really so few that care? It wasn’t that long ago people – stay awake, pay attention! Seriously, American – WAKE THE HECK UP!

    It appears after a major catastrophe and the knowledge that the responsible party is vowing to do it again and again, the American people can somehow forget it happened here – on our soil. Going about our lives as if it can never happen again. It showcases how incredibly stupid and complacent we’ve all become! It is just so darn annoying!

    Report Post » missmarie  
  • beekeeper
    Posted on September 7, 2010 at 10:18am

    Anyone remember the goofy paranoia around using big things to destroy other things after the 9/11 attacks? Oil delivery trucks were considered a huge threat to our security, and when one was stolen it made the evening news, amber alerts, etc. I guess we are now 100% complacent – a bus would make a fantastic ramrod for a suicide bomber, but I guess we (as a country) aren’t that concerned anymore…

    Report Post » beekeeper  

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