Redwood City Man Arrested For Taking Stolen School Bus On Wild Ride
REDWOOD CITY (CBS SF) -- A 23-year-old Redwood City man has been arrested on hit-and-run and other charges after allegedly stealing a school bus and taking it for a wild ride Saturday morning, smashing into vehicles before coming to rest atop a power transformer.
Redwood City police said they began getting 911 calls around 9:43 a.m. reporting a large school bus driving erratically and colliding with vehicles and other fixed objects in the area of Woodside Rd and Middlefield Rd.
About two minutes later, additional callers advised that the bus had collided with several more vehicles and come to rest on top of an above ground PG&E transformer in the Woodside Plaza shopping center parking lot.
The suspect -- identified as Santos Miguel Murillocuellas -- fled the bus but was quickly taken into custody without incident by an off-duty San Mateo County Sheriff's deputy.
The Redwood City Fire Department as well as PG&E responded to cut off power to the damaged transformer.
A follow up investigation has revealed that Murillocuellas allegedly broken into a locked and enclosed school bus storage yard located at 1090 Mills Way. Once inside, he allegedly stole the bus shortly before the initial 911 calls began coming in.
Redwood City police were investigating collisions involving seven vehicles, a median fence, the signal light pole at Woodside and Massachusetts, and a PG&E transformer. These vehicles and fixed objects sustained significant damage as a result of the incident.
The path of damage occurred on Woodside Rd between Spring Street and Massachusetts. The collisions involved parked vehicles or fixed objects and there are no personal injuries reported.
Murillocuellas has been booked into the San Mateo County Jail for vehicle theft, burglary, reckless driving, hit and run, and vandalism.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact Traffic Sergeant Steve Fine at 650-780-7187.
