HARRIS COUNTY, Texas - Bus-ted! Saturday night the country watched as a wild chase moved through Fort Bend County. The pursuit was a part of an episode of Live PD which airs on Friday and Saturdays at 8 p.m. on A&E.
The Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office is part of the second season and Saturday night, a pursuit involving a 15-year-old boy aired about two weeks after the pursuit happened.
The bus, was stolen from Iglesia Cristiana Evangelica Comunidad De Amor. It's a small church at 13919 Alief Clodine Road in Harris County.
About five years ago, the church's 80 members donated $6,500 that was needed to buy the 26-passenger bus.
The bus transports children to Friday night activities. Pastor Jose Arteaga says the bus was vandalized multiple times when it was parked outside of the church.
So, Arteaga recently parked it at his auto repair shop about three miles away from the church along the Westpark Tollway, near the Fort Bend County line.
On Friday, March 23, photographers with Live PD were riding along with Fort Bend County Sheriff's Deputy Justin Cloud.
Around 9:45 p.m., county dispatchers received a call about a school bus driving erratically in the area of F.M. 1464 and Beechnut.
In the video, which aired on A&E, deputies learned the bus did not belong to a school and no children were passengers on the bus.
Viewers watched as the driver refused to stop, instead slamming into guard rails, swerving off the road and into the median and swaying from the left to the right lanes of traffic so hard, the emergency door swung open.
Minutes into the pursuit, the bus slammed into a Fort Bend County SUV.
Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Deputies can be seen in the video running up to the driver's side of the bus with their guns drawn, repeatedly shouting for the driver to show authorities his hands.
In the Live PD video, you see a teen boy, in a yellow shirt and red shorts, handcuffed and carried away by deputies.
Fort Bend County spokeswoman Caitilin Espinosa confirms the teen is charged with: "Evading and Aggravated Assault on a Peace Officer for ramming the patrol unit."
The teen was not charged for stealing the bus, because Pastor Jose Arteaga refused.
In fact, Arteaga never went out to the crash site and the 55-year-old father of four hadn't seen the video on A&E or online.
Live PD shared the video on Facebook and Twitter.
Arteaga first saw the video when KHOU 11 showed it to him on a cellphone.
"I don’t know who he is," said the pastor outside his southwest Harris County church. "Oh man! It’s so sad to see this!"
Arteaga said he first learned the power of forgiveness 32 years ago. "I was about 23-years-old and I was also living a wild life. I didn’t care about anything or anybody, I just cared about myself."
He says he wasn't getting satisfaction in his life and one day, he took advice given to him by a friend, and began searching for God in his life. He devoted his life to finding and building a faith that now leads about 80 people at the church.
"It happened to me. It happened to a lot of my brothers," said Arteaga of forgiveness.
He immediately forgave the teen for stealing the bus and ruining the church's only chance at immediate transportation. Arteaga says he didn't even share the crime with this congregation.
"Just a few of us know what happened," said the pastor. "We’re going to have to present the video, to pray for the boy."
The bus is a total loss, as far as the humble church is concerned.
Arteaga says it will cost about $2,000 to get it out of an impound lot, then at least a few more thousand dollars to repair it.
"We want to use our resources in a wise way," said Arteaga. The church would rather spend the money paying for vacation bible study for children this summer.
The church is not on social media, and does not have an office. If you'd like to get in touch with Pastor Jose Arteaga, contact KHOU 11 Reporter Melissa Correa on Facebook, on Twitter, or by email at mcorrea@khou.com.