Queens man gets 7 years for stealing a school bus and rampaging through East Flatbush

April 11, 2023 Robert Abruzzese

The Kings County Supreme Court, Criminal Term, located at 320 Jay St. Eagle photo by Rob Abruzzese

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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that a Queens man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing a school bus in East Flatbush, and driving recklessly across multiple police precincts, resulting in property damage, injuries to other drivers, and a trail of chaos.

Anthony Reyes, 44, pleaded guilty to first-degree attempted assault last month.

“Today’s sentence holds this defendant accountable for his brazenly reckless conduct that caused mayhem across several communities and put countless lives at risk,” Gonzalez said. “Thankfully, there were no more serious injuries to the police officers and the public.”

Reyes, who is from Jamaica, Queens, was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Jane Tully to seven years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.

According to the investigation, on Dec. 2, 2021, at approximately 1:30 p.m., Reyes stole an unoccupied school bus, with keys in the ignition and the engine running, from the driveway of a house on East 51st Street in East Flatbush, within the 67th precinct. A 911 call was made to report the stolen bus, along with its GPS location.

Police officers located the bus parked in the 75th precinct, near 138 Jackie Robinson Parkway, with Reyes in the driver’s seat. As police approached the vehicle, Reyes started to drive away, even with an officer holding on to the bus. The officer eventually let go as Reyes fled in the bus.Less than 30 minutes after fleeing from cops, Reyes rammed the bus into the side of a building and continued driving. He then collided with multiple vehicles, both parked and stopped at traffic lights.

Two of the vehicles were occupied during the impact. One of these vehicles contained a woman, whom police pulled out before Reyes struck it a second time, dragging the vehicle down the street. Reyes was eventually apprehended by police in the 75th precinct. As a result of the incident, multiple people sustained minor injuries.