A man, brandishing a fake gun, stole a passenger bus along with the driver
'28.10.2022'
Nadezhda Verbitskaya
According to police, in Queens on October 27, a man hijacked an MTA bus with a fake gun. He took control of the steering wheel from the driver and soon crashed into an electric pole, reports New York Post.
Duane Gaddy, 44, stood in front of a Q4 bus heading east. He picked up a fake firearm around 7:23 a.m. on Linden Boulevard near 197th Street. This was announced by Deputy Chief of Police of New York John Clune at a press conference at the scene.
The driver, a 21-year-old MTA veteran, immediately opened the doors to let out two dozen passengers, but was unable to escape himself.
The hijacker got on the bus and said he was being chased. After that, he ordered the driver to keep moving. The bus driver drove several blocks and then escaped through the driver's window at the corner of 232nd Street.
“We believe that there were about 20 to 25 people on the bus. It could have been much worse,” he said.
Gaddy, who was already known to the police, took control of the wheel. About a block later, the hijacker crashed into an electric pole, after which the police arrested him.
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He was charged with threatening, unauthorized use of a vehicle, illegal possession of a weapon, and unlawful imprisonment of another person.
“The individual … stayed very close to the driver the entire time,” said NYPD 113th Precinct Deputy Inspector Jerry O'Sullivan.
“The driver did not have the opportunity to get off the bus with the passengers.”
The police seized the “fake gun” from the bus after the hijacker was arrested.
