The bus crashed in a parking lot in the 7100 block of West Chester Pike in Upper Darby.
Officials tell Action News that the bus was sitting idle at the SEPTA Victory District facility, located adjacent to the SEPTA 69th Street terminal. At around 11:25 a.m., a 16-year-old boy jumped into the driver seat of the bus and drove off.
The bus rammed two SUVs as it exited the Victory District lot, then hit two cars on Victory Avenue before turning onto West Chester Pike. That's when the bus was spotted by two undercover officers. They activated the lights and sirens on the police cruiser and gave chase.
The chase came to an end when the bus veered into a parking lot near the Elizabeth Manor Apartments near West Chester Pike and Victory Avenue. It plowed down the middle of a row of parked cars, only stopping when it hit a utility pole.
A total of 19 cars were damaged or destroyed.
No one was injured, but it was a close call for one family. Tranesha Mosley was one of the people sitting in an SUV that was hit. Mosley, her 2-year-old daughter, 18-year-old daughter and her sister could only watch as the out-of-control bus came their way.
"We just braced ourselves because he just turned into the parking lot and started hitting all of the cars," Mosley said.
The teen was arrested at the scene, and police say he is mentally disabled. As he was taken into custody the teen reportedly told officers that he was practicing for his driver's license.
Action News has learned the teen left a West Philadelphia group home for mentally challenged individuals earlier in the morning.
Transit officials say there were no passengers on the bus at the time.
SEPTA is now conducting its own investigation. Buses in the yard are supposed to be turned off, with the keys removed, when they are parked.
"Whether it was on, we don't know the answer to that. This is all still under investigation," said Richard Maloney of SEPTA.
All of the damaged cars were towed away from the scene, and Action News was there as one driver came to the lot to discover his car missing.
