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Muni bus hijacked in the Mission, hits 10 vehicles on joyride through the city

A Muni bus waits near a stop at the intersection of 16th and Mission streets in San Francisco on Oct. 27, 2022. | Garrett Leahy/The Standard

A man was arrested Friday night after police said he hijacked a Muni bus in San Francisco's Mission District.

The suspect, whose identity had not been released as of Friday night, took the bus by force, according to the San Francisco Police Department.

The incident occurred around 7:30 p.m. in the area of Cortland and Mission streets, police said.

The bus didn't have any passengers on it when it was taken, but the driver was assaulted, according to a police statement.

Police said the bus hit approximately 10 vehicles as the suspect drove it through the city before the bus stopped and the suspect was taken into custody at 19th and Guerrero streets.

Police said an ambulance was called for the bus driver and the driver of another vehicle. Neither appeared to suffer life-threatening injuries.

This is not the first time a city vehicle has been taken for a spin after being hijacked.

This summer, San Francisco Fire Department paramedics were left shaken after their ambulance was stolen by a man wielding a “stake from a tree,” officials said.

The suspect in that incident “began to drive laps in the Best Buy parking lot,” according to police. “[The suspect] chased the fire personnel with the ambulance trying to hit them. Then [the suspect] abandoned the ambulance in the back lot, fled the scene by scaling a fence at Treat/Florida St.”