Florida Man Robs House, then Hitches Ride on a School Bus

Erik Hall, a 27 year old resident of Manatee County, has been arrested after he boarded a school bus to get away from the area where he had just burglarized a home, deputies say.

Around 6:45 A.M. on Tuesday morning, Hall stepped onto a school bus headed to Manatee High School where the bus driver, Verna Esparza, 55, took him for a student. Hall sat only a few seats behind Esparza, where Hall continued to inform Esparza that he was indeed not a high school student, but that he needed a ride back to his home.

When Esparza pulled into the bus loop of the high school, she alerted administrators who then notified the police.

“It’s a big deal because you don’t know who the guy is,” a Manatee High School student said. “You know he could have harmed a kid, he could have raped a kid, no one knows what could have happened.”

Manatee County police arrested Hall on charges of trespassing on school property. As they processed him they found that he was also a suspect in a robbery case that occurred that morning in the same area of the bus stop he used to board the school bus. Hall awaits pending burglary charges.