SEPTA bus driver saves woman during carjacking in Fishtown

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A SEPTA driver is being called a hero after he used his bus to stop a carjacking in Philadelphia.

Chris DeShields says he's been on the job for 17 years, but he's never seen anything like what he saw last Wednesday night.

It was around 10:40 p.m. when DeShields says he witnessed a woman getting carjacked at the intersection of Frankford Avenue and West Thompson Street in Fishtown while on one of his routes.

"Something came over me. I started yelling, honking, screaming the horn and I angled the bus right towards her car," said DeShields.

According to Philadelphia police, the woman said the suspect told her, "Give us the keys or I'll shoot you."

The woman handed over her keys, but the vehicle was then blocked in by the bus.

"Now that they're pinned in, they can't go anywhere," said DeShields. "And then they looked up at me like a deer in headlights, they couldn't move so then they jumped out and they just ran."

DeShields says the woman reached out to him on social media thanking him and letting him know that she was OK.

"It may be a dangerous situation cause SEPTA doesn't recommend we get involved in crime," said DeShields.

In a statement, SEPTA told Action News, its bus operators "receive extensive training on how to handle challenging situations they encounter every day. Standard procedure in most instances is to notify dispatchers or police, however, some situations require split-second decision-making. Mr. DeShields called on his experience and training and used sound judgement to quickly aid the victim of a crime."

SEPTA says after police arrived at the scene, DeShields continued his service along Route 5.

Police say the carjacker got away with the woman's key fob.

They say no gun was seen and no arrest has been made.