On Friday, a former Utah school bus driver was ordered to remain behind bars without bail after allegedly igniting a school bus on two separate occasions.
In February, a grand jury indicted 58-year-old Michael Austin Ford on two counts of arson. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Utah, Ford stands accused of deliberately lighting a school bus on fire on two different dates.
Fire investigators said both incidents resulted from an “incendiary source.”
Ford, who was employed by the Granite School District in Salt Lake County, allegedly set a bus ablaze with 42 students on board in February 2022, then continued to drive “with smoke billowing past his face,” according to a criminal complaint obtained by People.
“Undeterred by the smoke, the Defendant only stops the bus when children are seen and heard on video coughing, covering their faces, and complaining about smoke,” prosecutors said.
Then, in April 2023, Ford lit the bus on fire while driving in traffic, the attorney’s office said. Prosecutors viewed security footage of the incident and couldn’t determine whether children were on the bus at the time. However, prosecutors added that Ford tried to tamper with the school bus security camera a few days before the incident.
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While officials were investigating October 2023, two additional fires erupted: one at Ford’s residence and another in his vehicle.
Ford also admitted to investigators that he was implicated in three earlier bus, dating back to 2016, 2017, and “around 2001 or 2002,” USA Today reports.
A jury trial has been scheduled for April 29 in Salt Lake City. Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo via KSL News/YouTube]
