Bus hijacked in downtown Los Angeles crashes into hotel

LOS ANGELES – A man who indicated he had a gun hijacked a transit bus in downtown Los Angeles and then grabbed the wheel, causing the bus to collide with several vehicles and crash into a hotel, police said Thursday.

Only the driver was on the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority bus when the man boarded around 11:10 p.m. Wednesday, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a statement.

The man made threats, reached into his waistband as if he had a gun and stated, “Just drive!,” the statement said.

Police said the man grabbed the steering wheel as the bus driver was attempting a turn, leading to the collisions that injured an occupant of one vehicle. The final crash punched a hole in a wall of a Ritz-Carlton hotel.

The man fled, but officers later made an arrest and booked the suspect into jail for investigation of kidnapping. A BB gun that resembled a handgun was recovered near the bus, police said.

The bus operator was treated at a hospital and released. The injured motorist was in stable condition, police said. Neither was identified.