Man Swipes CTA Bus, Picks Up Passengers

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 17, 2010 2:20PM

In perhaps one of the biggest head-scratchers we've heard this week, a man made like the Teen Cop and impersonated a CTA bus driver, uniform and all, taking a CTA bus out on a joyride and even picked up passengers. The suspect, who apparently swiped a uniform from an acquaintance and successfully started and operated the bus, taking it out on the road. The Tribune reports the man took the bus out for about four hours last Wednesday night and the GPS on the bus shows he drove between the CTA's 103rd Street garage and 95th Street, apparently stopping to pick up passengers along the way. Things unraveled for the man when he returned the bus to the garage:

It hit another bus as it entered, and when a CTA worker went to confront the driver, who was wearing a bus driver's uniform, the man took off on foot, according to video from the bus' security cameras.

So now the search is on for the CTA Bus Driver Impersonator. CTA President Richard Rodriguez said the suspect obviously knew what the heck he was doing. Investigators don't believe the person whose uniform was stolen was involved in this strange incident and they continue to look for the man and though they've released a photo of the suspect, they haven't released his name. Of course, the question we want answered: did the passengers he picked up even notice a difference between his driving skills and that of their normal route driver?