Man charged with stealing school bus, crashing into vehicles, injuring drivers

January 21, 2022 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. Photo: Paul Frangipane/Brooklyn Eagle

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A Queens man has been indicted for attempted assault, reckless endangerment, grand larceny and related charges after he allegedly stole a school bus in East Flatbush and drove recklessly across multiple police precincts, damaging property and other vehicles and injuring other drivers.

District Attorney Eric Gonzalez identified the defendant as Anthony Reyes, 43, of Jamaica, Queens. He was arraigned Friday before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo on a 43-count indictment charging him with first- and second-degree attempted assault, third- and fourth-degree grand larceny, third-degree criminal possession of stolen property, second-degree criminal mischief, first-degree reckless endangerment, and related charges.

He is being held on bail of $500,000 bond or $250,000 cash and was ordered to return to court on March 11, 2022.

According to the investigation, on Dec. 2, 2021, at approximately 1:30 p.m., Reyes stole an unoccupied school bus, with the keys in the ignition and the engine running, from the driveway of a house on East 51st Street in East Flatbush. A call was placed to 911 to report the stolen bus, along with its GPS location.

Within a short period of time, police officers saw the bus parked near 138 Jackie Robinson Parkway, with Reyes allegedly in the driver’s seat. Police approached the vehicle and the defendant started to drive away, even though one officer was holding on to the vehicle. Eventually, the officer let go as the defendant fled in the bus, the indictment charges.

Hon. Dineen Riviezzo (pictured) will be honored by the Kings County Criminal Bar Association at its annual dinner next month alongside Danielle Eaddy, Siobhan Shea-Gillespie and Stuart Rubin. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese — Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese

Within approximately 30 minutes, Reyes allegedly rammed into the side of a building and continued driving. He then rammed into multiple vehicles, some of which were parked and others that were stopped at a traffic light, police said. Two of the vehicles still had individuals inside during the crashes.

One of the vehicles he struck was occupied by a woman, and police managed to pull her out of the vehicle before the defendant allegedly struck it a second time, dragging the vehicle down the street. Eventually, the defendant was apprehended by police in the confines of the 75th Precinct in East New York.

As a result of the incident, several people suffered injuries.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant caused mayhem across several neighborhoods when he allegedly stole a school bus and crashed numerous times before being stopped by police. Luckily, he did not cause more serious injuries or death. We will now seek to hold him accountable for his reckless actions.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Aleena Peerzada and Kaitlin Kinsella of the District Attorney’s Blue Zone Trial Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Theresa Shanahan, Deputy Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Kin Ng, Bureau Chief.