Police in Karlsruhe stopped a stolen city bus around midday and returned it undamaged to its operator after a 15-year-old drove it from Wiesbaden to take his girlfriend to school. The teenager was handed over to his guardians and faces proceedings for theft and driving without a license, according to Blic.
A master key
The incident began early Friday, when the bus was taken from the depot of a transport company in Wiesbaden. The vehicle was opened without the use of force and started with a universal or master key while it was fully fueled. Its disappearance was first noticed at about 6 a.m. Initial assumptions within the company were that a driver might have set off with the wrong vehicle, which meant police were not alerted until around noon. By that time, a patrol had already spotted the bus in Karlsruhe around midday, according to Deutsche Welle.
Investigators say the teenager’s aim was to deliver his 14-year-old girlfriend to her school in Karlsruhe, and she was on board during the drive as he headed to the city for that purpose. He covered roughly 150 kilometers to reach Karlsruhe, according to Deutsche Welle.