A Metro bus driver performed a brave public service on Friday when he left his bus to pursue a driverless car rolling into a busy downtown intersection.
Isaac Sanders, a bus operator on the Line 94 (Page) bus, put the well being of other citizens ahead of his own safety.
“I figured the public was at risk of getting hurt,” Sanders said. “So I knew [the car] had to be stopped before it got to that next intersection.”
Police had been pursuing two men traveling eastbound on Highway 40. The chase continued onto the 14th Street exit ramp.
Sanders saw the men attempt to make a left turn coming off the exit, but their speed caused them to run into another car near the Sheraton St. Louis City Center Hotel and Suites. The police cruiser then ran into the back of the car they had been chasing.
According to Anita Collins, who watched the entire event, the two men got out of the car and ran away from police, then the pursuit continued on foot. But when the men left the car, its engine was still running. The driverless car pulled off by itself and was headed northbound toward Spruce Street.
“This car was actually in motion rolling down into traffic,” Collins said. “The bus driver runs after the car and gets in it.”
Sanders knew that the 14th Street and Spruce intersection was a busy one and that the car would gain speed as it approached the intersection.
Sanders got out of his bus, which he was just preparing for departure, and ran after the moving car. He then jumped into the vehicle and stopped it before it reached the intersection. No one was harmed.
While in the car, Sanders noticed an automatic pistol on the passenger’s seat. More officers had arrived on the scene, and he gave the pistol to a police officer.
“For a while, I thought I would be a suspect because the other police were late on the scene,” Sanders said, laughingly.
Sanders returned to his bus, where passengers greeted him warmly. They called him a hero. Collins was so moved that she contacted The St. Louis American with the story.
“His interest was keeping that car from going into traffic,” Collins said. “He is a true hero.”
Sanders continued on with the rest of his day. He called into the station and explained why he would be late on his route.
“I was shaken just a little bit,” Sanders said. “It was a unique experience.”
According to Sergeant Al Nothum of the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the two men being chased by police were coming from St. Louis County in a stolen car.
“St. Louis County sent out a dispatch regarding a theft,” Nothum said. “Our trooper heard that and sat at the intersection of 270 and 40 and attempted to stop that vehicle.”
St. Louis city police did apprehend the two men after they ran away from police on foot. Nothum is certain that the two men will face several traffic charges and most likely charges for theft.
