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‘We Heard You Were Batman’: Driver Blocks Off Carjacking Suspects With His 15-Ton Bus

Jamie Clinton Contributor
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A Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, bus driver stopped an ongoing carjacking with his 40-foot long bus Monday.

Chris DeShields, a Route 5 Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) bus driver stopped a carjacking attempt in the city’s Fishtown neighborhood. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports he used the length of his bus to scare off the carjackers.

DeShields was out driving late at night when he saw three men who appeared to be in their 20s threatening a woman who they had forced out of her car. Without missing a beat, DeShields turned his bus toward the carjackers on West Thompson street. He turned on the blinkers and leaned on his horn while shouting out of the window. (RELATED: Police Ask Public’s Help While ‘Extremely Dangerous’ Suspect On Loose, Call For ‘All Hands On Deck Operation’)

“They had masks on, but you could see their eyes popping wide open,” Chris Valentin, a bus operator, told the Inquirer on Friday. “Like, ‘What do we do now?'” The suspects ran away after seeing this man scare them with his bus.

SEPTA trains drivers not to intervene in active crime scenes in order to ensure the safety of staff and passengers.

“I caught hell in the depot the next day,” DeShields, 38, said, on a day off from his regular shift, which runs from 4:30 p.m. to 2:05 a.m. “My coworkers were laughing and teasing me, saying, ‘We heard you were Batman.'”

Valentin said that he had never seen anyone intervene in a crime like this before.

“We’re happy it worked out and everyone was safe,” he added.

Once the danger had passed, DeShields stepped down from his bus to make sure everyone involved was okay. After a minute he got back into his bus and continued his route.

DeShields believes he made the right decision.

“If you were raised a certain way and you’ve got a bit of heart, you’re going to get involved with certain things,” he said. “I’ve got a soon-to-be wife, and my sister — I would love somebody to help them if they get in a jam.”