Wild shuttle ride leaves passengers climbing out windows

LONG BEACH, Calif. -- Passengers on a shuttle in California Thursday night were taken on a wild and terrifying ride.

Dozens boarded a shuttle bus to travel from the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to the Queen Mary ship, a one mile trip.

The trip took a dramatic turn when passengers began to believe they were being kidnapped as their bus was headed in the wrong direction -- and the driver wouldn't stop.

"He wasn't responding to anybody," passenger Ashia Souder said. "And I was like, 'We're getting kidnapped.'"

"We were all trying to get off the bus, telling him to stop, let us off and he wouldn't stop," Lee Piatelli said.

As the less than 10-minute drive hit nearly 30 minutes, a passenger pleaded with the driver to stop.

"I told him straight up, 'At this point, it's kidnapping. You can't hold us like this,'" Brian Corbitt said. "I stood up with him, and he just whipped around and nailed me in the stomach and knocked me back into a seat."

Panic set in and people began to get off the bus -- however they could. They began opening windows and climbing out of the shuttle.

"People started opening up the windows and everybody starts jumping out and clamoring and wedging in a panic," Scott McCaslin said.

The bus driver eventually opened the door and let the remaining passengers out in the city of Carson.

Some had called 911 to report they had been kidnapped. The Sheriff's Department arrived a short time later and took the driver into custody. He was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping.

The driver said he wanted to find a safe place to stop. Meanwhile, passengers said they asked him to stop miles and hours before the bus stopped.

No injuries were reported.

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