Auto yard owner indicted for bus thefts, scrapping

CHICAGO — The owner of an auto yard has been indicted on numerous felony charges for his alleged scheme to steal and scrap eight school buses from a local school bus company, the Chicago Tribune reports.

As previously reported, the buses were stolen from Sunrise School Bus and Charter Service’s yard. Because the buses were equipped with GPS, police were able to track their whereabouts, and they were discovered at SRV Metal Scrapper and Gonzalez Auto Parts & Dismantling, where three of the buses had been shredded.   

Four people were taken into custody in the case, including the owner of the auto yard, Sergio Quintero.

Now, Quintero has pled not guilty to a 58-count indictment charging him with aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle, theft, criminal damage to property and illegal possession of auto titles, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Prosecutors in the case wrote that investigators uncovered text messages from Quintero’s cell phone “where the timing and content correspond to the theft of the school buses.”

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