Man who took Hamilton bus on joy ride ‘did a great job’ driving, left no dings, say police

A man took a Hamilton city bus on a joy ride Tuesday — with passengers still on board, say police.

At about 9 p.m., a bus driver parked at the downtown MacNab Bus Terminal and left for a short break, Hamilton police said in a news release Wednesday.

A 36-year-old man of no fixed address boarded the bus, sat down in the driver’s seat and drove away, up to the Mountain.

The bus was an extra long “articulated” model — meaning it had an accordion-like attachment joining the first vehicle to the second vehicle, said police spokesperson Trevor McKenna in an interview.

The man made several stops along the way, allowing passengers to get on and off at bus stops. At roughly any time, 10 passengers were on the bus, McKenna said.

“There was not a ding on the bus. He did a great job,” said McKenna said. “It’s comical but at the same time it’s serious. We’re thankful nobody was hurt.”

Passenger gave man directions: police

At first, passengers didn’t realize the man wasn’t a bus driver, McKenna said. But when he started making some wrong turns, they started asking him questions and one gave him directions to return to the scheduled route.

“He even went as far as to deny someone looking to board with an expired bus pass,” police said in the news release.

Police “strategically” followed the bus, “mindful of the potential risk to public safety,” they said.

Officers worked with Hamilton Street Railway, and accessed the bus’s GPS, to know where it was going, McKenna said. They kept their sirens off.

“We didn’t want to spook him,” he said. “We didn’t want to make this a tragedy.”

When it stopped on West 5th Street, about 15 minutes later, the man was taken into custody without incident.

He was charged with theft over $5,000, possession over $5,000, obstruct police and drive while prohibited.

McKenna said they didn’t release the man’s name because there may be “a mental health component.”