Man steals Hamilton bus, takes passengers on perfectly civil joyride

A man who stole an idling city bus in Hamilton took passengers on a nighttime joyride through the city — making stops, letting riders on and off, and even made someone with an expired bus pass put money in the fare box, police said.

A potentially devastating alarm came to Hamilton Police from the city’s transit operator, Hamilton Street Railway, at 9 p.m., Tuesday: A man had climbed behind the wheel of a city bus after the driver stepped out for a short break.

With about 10 passengers on board, the man pulled the bus out of the McNab Street Bus Terminal in the heart of downtown and onto the city’s dark, snowy streets.

Police officers responded quickly but initially stayed discreetly back, Const. Trevor McKenna said.

“We typically would pursue something like this, but because of this si