Smith County investigators stop 14-year-old driving school bus on I-20

SMITH COUNTY, Texas (KLTV) - A Louisiana teenager was stopped on I-20 in Smith County while allegedly driving a stolen school bus Thursday.

According to a Smith County Sheriff’s Office press release, the bus was pulled over on I-20 near Lindale around 10:45 a.m. after being observed driving erratically. After swerving in the lanes while driving west, investigators in an unmarked car stopped the bus after it nearly caused a wreck with an 18-wheeler.

When investigators approached the bus, there was no one in the driver’s seat, the release said. After calling for the driver to show himself to them, the 14-year-old boy came out from behind a seat. He told them he was sleeping and someone else had been driving, but the investigators said they did not see anyone flee from the bus.

Once deputies arrived, the boy admitted that he had stolen the bus in Monroe, La., from a business near the Monroe Airport, nearly three hours from where investigators had stopped the vehicle. According to the release, investigators found that this was the second time in three weeks that the teen had stolen a retired school bus from the same business.

The 14-year-old will be released to his father, the statement said, and the Monroe Police Department will be handling the theft case.