‘Erratic’ man with fake gun hijacks bus full of passengers and crashes it, NYC cops say

A 44-year-old man hijacked a bus in Queens, New York, and then crashed it on Thursday, Oct. 27, according to police.

The man, who appeared “erratic,” dashed in front of a city bus brandishing what looked like a handgun around 7 am, police said in a news conference.

He then boarded the vehicle while the driver opened all the doors to allow passengers to escape, according to police.

Once the man and the driver were the only two remaining on the bus, the man claimed he was being chased and instructed the driver to continue driving, police said.

The man then sat directly behind the driver while he continued northbound on a two-way boulevard. But, roughly 15 minutes into the hijacking, the driver bailed out of the driver’s side window, police said.

At that point, the man took control of the bus and crashed into a utility pole a few blocks away, police said. Officers then apprehended him nearby and transported him to a hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

The driver, who’d been driving buses for 21 years, was also brought to a hospital with minor injuries, police said.

“I want to commend the driver for his actions,” a representative for the New York City Police Department stated at the news conference. “He did not move the bus until everyone was off.”

It was later determined that the weapon the man had when he stopped the bus “appeared to be a BB gun,” police said.

The investigation is ongoing and charges are pending, police said.

A representative for the NYPD did not immediately respond to McClatchy News for comment.

This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 1:32 PM with the headline "‘Erratic’ man with fake gun hijacks bus full of passengers and crashes it, NYC cops say."