"I need to step in and do something": Metro Transit bus operator helps rescue young boy lost in snowstorm

MINNEAPOLIS – Metro Transit bus drivers watch a lot from behind the wheel. But when one driver saw a child alone in a snowstorm, he knew he couldn't sit back. 

Just four months on the job as a bus operator, Ambrose Younge proved driving is much more than getting from point A to B.

"We're definitely the eyes and ears, we're trained that way," Younge said. "We help as many people as we can."

On Feb. 22, a winter storm was barreling down.

"It was cold and there was snow everywhere," he said.

School was canceled, and Younge was on his route near Theodore Wirth Park.

"I saw this child walking and to myself I was like that's pretty weird," he said.

The 9-year-old boy was wearing a backpack, walking alone in the cold. Instincts kicked into high gear when he saw the child trying to get into a car.

"The car pulled out and left the child, and at that point I was like, 'Hey, I need to step in and do something,'" he said.

He pulled over and brought the child inside his warm bus. The boy had walked 15 blocks from his home before Younge found him. The high temperature that day was just 21 degrees.

Younge called the Transit Operations Center, and Metro Transit Patrol Officer Juan Peralta connected the dots.

"We overheard there was a missing child, we took note of that and within minutes our Metro Transit dispatch notified us a Metro Transit operator had a child," Peralta said.

Officer Peralta says the child has autism and was nonverbal. It's not the first time he had wandered away from home. 

"This was a very caring, loving family that just wanted their kid back," Peralta said.

Younge says he doesn't feel like a hero.

"I feel like I did what we're trained to do as bus drivers. I feel like it's what any bus driver would do, or any parent in my position, my shoes would do," Younge said. "I'm just happy he was able to get safely back to his family."

"Whether they are victims of a crime, they're having a medical emergency, the street is safer because of these bus drivers. It could be this light of hope in what could be a very dark situation," Peralta said.

If you or someone you know is interested in becoming a Metro Transit bus operator, they have hundreds of open positions they're looking to fill. Click here for more information.

The Metro Transit Police Department is recruiting, too. Click here for more information.