Charges: Man Steals Metro Mobility Bus, Leads Law Enforcement On Metro-Wide Chase
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A 31-year-old man faces charges of auto theft and fleeing police after allegedly stealing a Metro Mobility bus and leading law enforcement on a chase across the Twin Cities.
Brandon Scott Brose is accused of stealing the bus in downtown St. Paul early last Thursday morning, according to a criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County. The bus was taken while its driver left it running to go grab things from her own car.
The bus was equipped with GPS, and law enforcement spent the next six hours tracking it and trying to pull the driver over. The stolen bus passed through several other cities, including Woodbury, Mahtomedi, White Bear Township, White Bear Lake and Roseville.
Deputies with the Ramsey County Sheriff's Carjacking and Auto Theft Unit (CAT) later joined in the chase, following the bus back into St. Paul.
It was eventually found unoccupied in an alley in the Frogtown neighborhood, and Brose was soon spotted by deputies walking in another alley in the area, with "snow covering his pants and leaves on his jacket." Deputies said Brose was evasive when questioned by deputies, and seemed "very nervous." He was patted down and informed he was a suspect in a bus theft. Brose then allegedly "began to apologize." Deputies said meth-smoking paraphilia was found in his possession. He denied attempts to be interviewed by investigators.
Brose is seen in bus surveillance video spraying the interior security camera with shaving foam before driving off. Descriptions given by law enforcement who saw him during the chase, and a postal worker who saw him in the bus before he abandoned it, matched the suspect's appearance in the footage.
Brose, who is on probation and has two active warrants for burglary and auto theft, is also being investigated in two other Metro Mobility bus theft cases.
If convicted in this case, Brose could face up to 13 year in prison.