A man who was short on dough allegedly stole a MARTA bus over the weekend and took it on a bizarre joyride, even dropping off a passenger at Waffle House on his way to Stone Mountain Park.
The ordeal began Sunday at around 5 p.m. when the 28-year-old from Stone Mountain tried to board the bus in Tucker and was told he didn’t have enough money for the fare, according to 95.5 WSB Radio.
At that point, he began threatening the driver, who got off the bus to report the threats — only to see the suspect take off in the vehicle, MARTA police told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Taking a route that could be an Atlanta child’s dream day trip, the man drove roughly eight miles to the park, which is currently decorated with holiday lights and Christmas-themed attractions. Along the way, he stopped at some point and dropped off the passenger at a Waffle House, the radio station reported.
The escapade was cut short when he tried to turn around the large vehicle at the entrance to the park.
“He drove up and couldn’t make a U-turn because, I guess he didn’t know how to put it in reverse,” park police spokesperson John Bankhead confirmed to the AJC.
A park officer spotted the bus and immediately suspected something was wrong, Bankhead said. The officer approached the man and asked him if he was the driver. When he said no, he was detained, and MARTA police soon arrived to make the arrest.
No injuries were reported, and the bus was not damaged, police said.
The suspect faces multiple charges, including second-degree hijacking a motor vehicle, terroristic threats and theft. He could face additional charges if police can locate the passenger who was dropped off.
It’s not the first time an unusual vehicle has been stolen and taken for a ride in metro Atlanta. It’s not even the first time such an incident has involved a Waffle House.
In September, a 58-year-old woman was arrested and accused of stealing an ambulance from the parking lot of a Waffle House in McDonough and leading police on a high-speed chase, authorities said. In that incident, when the crew went inside the restaurant to attend to a patient, the woman got into the ambulance and drove away, according to police.
Last year, a man was arrested after police said he stole an ambulance from a hospital in Midtown Atlanta and led officers on a low-speed chase toward Buckhead.
And in 2020, a stolen Georgia Department of Transportation truck crashed into a MARTA bus during a police chase, leading to the arrest of two Decatur men.
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