Juvenile Steals School Bus-Again?

Disclaimer: All persons are innocent until proven guilty. A local teenager who allegedly stole a school bus in Ouachita Parish recently and was arrested in Texas was released to his father after he was apprehended by law enforcement officials in Texas. According to police reports, that was the teen’s second time in as many weeks of allegedly committing the same act involving a school bus. The teen traveled on I-20 toward Texas, and when he entered Smith County near Lindale, Texas, he was spotted driving the school bus in an erratic manner that caught law enforcement’s attention. According to Texas officials, the bus was stopped because the teen was swerving in the lanes, as officers in an unmarked car stopped the bus after it almost caused an accident with an 18-wheeler. Investigators approached the bus but did not see a driver behind the wheel. They called out for the driver, and they entered the bus after getting no reply/answer. They again called out for the driver, and the teen surrendered to investigators after coming from behind a seat where he had been hiding. According to officials, the teen initially told them he had been sleeping and someone else had been driving the bus. When deputies arrived, the teen allegedly admitted that he had stolen the bus from a business near the airport in Monroe. The trip from Monroe to where he was stopped took nearly three hours. Monroe Police are handling the case.

As of press time, there has yet to be a statement from MPD concerning the incident since it reportedly happened over a week ago. There are questions that the public is asking, but answers have yet to be forthcoming. Is the teen in custody in a juvenile facility? If not, why? Did the school bus belong to a city or parish district? How could the teen steal a bus twice from the same location? Where were the security protocols? Everyone is concerned about crime, especially when it occurs among our teen population. The public wants to hear from someone who can give answers, so, hopefully, the second time would be the last.