Man steals school bus and puts dead deer inside, PA cops say. Officers catch him naked

A man accused of stealing a school bus led Pennsylvania officers on a chase before ultimately being captured in the nude, police say.

Officers in Carroll Township learned at about 7 a.m. Tuesday, April 4, that the school bus had been stolen in Abbottstown, about 20 miles south.

The Carroll Township Police Department said in a news release its officers spotted the school bus being driven through a shopping center. Officers tried to pull the driver over, but he fled, police said.

The driver eventually exited the bus and tried evading officers on foot, according to police. As he was being chased by officers, the man took off his clothes. He ran throughout parking lots and what officers called “busy traffic areas.”

Police said the 25-year-old man was taken into custody while naked. He admitted he stole the bus earlier that day after he crashed a BMW, according to police.

Inside the bus, officers found a dead deer, which the man told police he put in the vehicle. He was going to drive the dead deer to his home and use it “as fertilizer for his garden,” police said.

He was charged with fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, receiving stolen property, resisting arrest and reckless driving, police said.

Carroll Township is about 25 miles south of Pittsburgh.

This story was originally published April 5, 2023 at 5:59 AM with the headline "Man steals school bus and puts dead deer inside, PA cops say. Officers catch him naked."