Unarmed woman outsmarts armed man trying to steal Florida school bus, officials say
An armed man trying to steal a Florida school bus was outwitted by a bus attendant when she reached over his shoulder and applied the parking brake, according to the Osceola County School District.
The attendant then calmly stepped off the bus and waited for the man to realize he was stuck.
It happened Oct. 17, as the bus sat at a RaceTrac gas station, where the driver was taking a bathroom break, the district said in an Oct. 24 news release. The county is just south of Orlando.
Video shared on Facebook shows the man was wearing a black mask and orange poncho when he jumped onto the bus, climbed into the driver’s seat and tried starting the engine.
No students were aboard, but an attendant watched from the back, where she was sweeping the floor, district officials said.
“There is nothing I can do (to avoid him) because I am already on the bus. So I have to try to come out, because those people always have a gun,” the attendant told district officials.
“He cannot start the bus right away if I push the brake.”
So that’s exactly what she did, trapping the man in a bus that wouldn’t move.
The video shows she stepped out just as Osceola County deputies ran to the door with weapons drawn. The suspect then surrendered.
Deputies were pursuing the 22-year-old after getting reports of “a suspicious person at a local business inappropriately making comments or touching people,” Fox 35 reported.
His charges include resisting arrest, carrying a concealed weapon, grand theft auto and burglary, records show.
The attendant, who wished to remain anonymous, is being lauded for quick thinking, bravery and remembering a minor detail about the parking brake that came up during her training.
“That bus attendant deserves a monetary award. That was some quick-thinking!” one woman wrote on Facebook.
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Unarmed woman outsmarts armed man trying to steal Florida school bus, officials say."