School Buses Stolen From Brooklyn Yeshivas, Ditched After Joyrides
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- School buses are being stolen from religious schools in Brooklyn and then ditched elsewhere, and police late Friday were trying to figure out who was behind the unusual thefts.
As CBS2's Jessica Borg reported, one school bus somehow ended up near the subway tracks, far away from the yeshiva in Borough Park where it belongs. Police said someone stole it from the yeshiva and took it for a joyride.
Parents of students were not happy about it.
"It's very inconveniencing, this whole -- I'm very shocked," one parent said.
Police say the thief or thieves stole the bus Monday. They said it was parked near 61st Street and 14th Avenue in Borough Park.
Detectives said whoever stole the bus crashed into a parked sport-utility vehicle nearby, and damaged a fence, before ending up right next to the N and R subway line tracks.
"It's quite dangerous for them to just pick up a bus," a woman said. "I don't know if they have their license
Investigators said the bus found by the subway tracks was one of two to be stolen from Jewish schools in Borough Park in just the past week.
Fortunately, there have been no reported injuries, but both times -- the driver has gotten away.
"We hope that those responsible will be apprehended," said state Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn).
Hikind said unlike public schools that contract with companies, the privately-run yeshivas operate their own buses.
"We're talking about something that's worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that disappears!" Hikind said.
Police said in the incidents, the keys were left inside the buses by one school bus driver for the next one.
The principal of this private school, though, has her own ideas.
"Possible they were hot-wired," said school principal Chaya Sandel Amanda. "I don't believe that people leave keys in buses."
Hikind said he hopes to get a secure, central bus depot for the hundreds of buses that serve the yeshivas in the area. Space will be hard to come by, he said, but no one wants more buses ditched along railroad tracks.
The stolen buses were both parked a few blocks away from the schools. Police are looking for surveillance video from nearby businesses in hopes that it will help with the investigation.
