Florida Tween, Arrested for Stealing School Bus, Steals Another Bus
Less than a day after he appeared in court for stealing a school bus, a Parker, Fla. 12-year-old allegedly stole a different bus and took it for a two-hour joyride.
Back in June, Michael Propst was stopped after he drove a Bay School District bus 14 miles to Walmart and employees noticed he was having trouble parking it. Then they noticed he was 12.
"[It was] like he'd never drove one before," one witness told the News Herald.
Propst was charged with grand theft and criminal mischief, and appeared in court Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, police say, he took his aunt's car to Parker Elementary school, stole another bus, and then drove it for more than two hours.
He was eventually caught in Franklin County.
"Our initial reaction was 'oh no, not again,'" Parker police chief Charles Sweatt told WMBB.
"When we were advised that it was the same juvenile driving the bus that had been responsible for the last bus theft from Parker we said 'No way,'" Chief Sweatt added.
But police say it was Propst, and it seemed like his driving had improved since his last outing in a bus. WMBB reports the boy's 55-mile route would have taken him through an area where traffic signals were down and police were directing traffic, but he managed to avoid being stopped.
Propst is now back in police custody, facing additional charges.
"He's not unruly or resists arrest or anything of that nature from what I understand," said Sweatt. "He's just into stealing vehicles."