U.S.

Bus Hijacking Foiled

October 18, 2001 / 4:15 PM EDT / CBS

Passengers on a Greyhound bus overpowered a hijacker who grabbed the steering wheel and threatened to flip the vehicle, authorities said.

The man and a woman accomplice fled after the driver safely stopped the bus. No one was injured.

Troopers arrested suspects Troy Matzek, 34, and Becky Hyde, 25, of Wichita, Kan., early Thursday, said Highway Patrol Sgt. Daniel Fuhr. The unarmed couple gave themselves up at a downtown Salt Lake City truck stop.

They were booked into jail on charges of attempted theft of a motor vehicle, a misdemeanor, and terrorist threats, a felony. Because the bus was traveling between states, they also may face federal charges, said a spokesman for the Utah Highway Patrol.

Authorities described the incident as an attempted hijacking.

"A man jumped up and stated that he was going to hijack the bus and that there was a bomb on the bus," Highway Patrol Sgt. Doug McCleve said of the incident, in which no one was injured.

McCleve said that as the suspect got to the front of the bus, which was carrying 40 passengers, he said he was going to make it crash and roll over. The bus, bound for Denver from Salt Lake City, was traveling on Interstate 80.

Bus driver Gene Savage told local television that the man, who was described as being in his mid-30's, became increasingly unruly and "the first thing I know, he comes and grabs my wheel and says, 'I'm gonna flip this bus,' and I'm just holding onto the wheel."

"He's trying to put me out into the middle lane of traffic here going east on the interstate and I'm trying to get it off the side of the road but try to kick him down the stairwell at the same time," said Savage, who managed to stop the bus.

After struggling unsuccessfully with the driver and several passengers, the man got off the bus, accompanied by a woman, police said. The bus had stopped about 15 miles east of Salt Lake City.

The couple then flagged down a passing car, McCleve said. He said the couple told the car's driver that people on the bus were trying to kill them.

The driver took the couple to a gas station and gave them money, and the couple again stopped traffic and jumped into a truck claiming their lives were in danger.

The truck driver drove to Salt Lake City and called 911 while the couple were outside the cab. When they returned to the cab, police arrested them, McCleve said.

The man had been ranting about hijackings before the attack, McCleve said.

It is not clear if he had a weapon, although some of the passengers said he had threatened them with a bomb, McCleve said.

Bomb-sniffing dogs were brought in to sweep the bus and luggage compartments, but no explosives were found.

The bus was bound from Portland, Ore., to Nashville, Tenn., with 44 passengers aboard, said Greyhound spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield, who characterized the man as an "unruly passenger," rather than a hijacker.

Earlier this month, a Croatian man slashed the neck of a Greyhound bus diver in Tennessee, causing a crash that killed seven passengers.