A man was arrested after a stolen B.C. Transit bus was crashed into a rock wall and a nearby View Royal home was broken into early Wednesday.
West Shore RCMP was called about 6:42 a.m. after a bus driver returned from a break to find an empty B.C. Transit bus had been stolen from the stop outside Victoria General Hospital.
The bus was driven along Watkiss Way and onto Highland Road, which narrows as it winds through Thetis Lake Regional Park.
The bus sped along Herbate Road at about 60 km/h before it went out of control on a muddy shoulder, said Riley Ireland, who lives on the quiet road.
The man driving tried to correct the bus’s direction, but backed over the shoulder into a rock face, Ireland said.
Ireland and his neighbour could see the man trying to change gears. Eventually, he left the bus and ran farther down the dead-end road. Ireland’s neighbour was on the phone with police while Ireland called homeowners in the direction the man was heading.
Brian Richmond, who owns a home overlooking McKenzie Lake, woke up just before 7 a.m. and heard a loud bang. He went downstairs and saw a man standing in his foyer. A footprint remains on the yellow door where the intruder kicked through a wood panel to open the deadbolt.
Richmond said he remained calm and asked the man if he could help. “I didn’t have any sense that he was dangerous,” he said, adding that the man seemed scared.
The man didn’t say anything, then ran back up the driveway. He ran to another neighbour’s house and asked for a ride back into town.
West Shore RCMP, blocked by the transit bus, continued on foot toward the waterfront homes, Ireland said, and arrested the man without incident. A 19-year-old man is in police custody.
Ireland said he was impressed at how quickly officers arrived, given the remote location.
The incident remains under investigation, said West Shore RCMP spokeswoman Const. Nancy Saggar. The suspect appeared in court Wednesday.
B.C. Transit said it will be conducting an internal investigation.
