Man Accused of Trying to Hijack School Bus
Christopher Martinez of California allegedly steps onto the school bus with students aboard, and says he is driving to a mission, police say. He is charged with attempted carjacking.
FRESNO, Calif. — A man here was arrested after allegedly attempting to hijack a bus full of students on Monday, police told The Mercury News.
The incident occurred around 6:30 p.m. at a gas station on Highway 99 as a bus carrying 41 elementary school students was returning from a science camp in Oakhurst. Police said the driver stopped the bus at the gas station so several students could use the restroom.
Lt. Mark Hudson of Fresno Police Department told The Mercury News that as a teacher on the bus escorted the students to the gas station, Christopher Martinez, 47, stepped onto the bus and said he was driving to a mission in San Gabriel, California. Martinez grabbed the driver by the collar to pull her from the driver’s seat, and then walked from the front to the back of the bus. No one was harmed.
Martinez complied with orders from the bus driver, the gas station clerk, and the teacher to exit the bus, and then walked to the store where he was taken into custody, The Mercury News reports. Martinez was charged with attempted carjacking, and was being held on $2,500 bond, according to the news source.
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