Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY – Passengers aboard a Greyhound bus left their seats and overpowered a man who allegedly tried to take control and flip the vehicle after ranting about hijackings, authorities said Thursday.
No one was injured in Wednesday night’s incident and the driver was able to pull safely to the side of Interstate 80. There were 44 passengers aboard the bus bound from Portland, Ore., to Nashville, Tenn.
A man and a female accomplice ran off the bus, flagged down a car and later fled to the truck stop where they were arrested several hours later, Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Doug McCleve said.
Troy Matzek, 34, and Becky Hyde, 25, of Wichita, Kan., were booked on charges of attempted theft of a motor vehicle and terrorist threats. U.S. authorities took over the case Thursday, and federal charges were pending.
Authorities said they believed the couple were not acting as part of a terrorist plot.
“This is probably a person who is mentally unstable,” McCleve said.
Matzek’s mother, Rose Matzek, said her son thought someone was after him. After talking to him by phone following his arrest, she said he had been affected by the terrorist attacks and might have had an emotional breakdown on the bus.
“He called a couple of days ago, he wanted to come home,” she said. “He was very fearful. He was a little paranoid about what has happened.”
Bus driver Gene Savage told KUTV television that Matzek grabbed the steering wheel and said he was going to flip the bus. He had been ranting about hijackings.
The driver kicked Matzek away, and several passengers wrestled with the man as Savage stopped the bus, McCleve said.
“People aren’t as tolerant about this kind of thing anymore,” said Paul Warner, the U.S. attorney for Utah
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