By Danielle Echeverria
Source San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco police have arrested a man they say assaulted a Muni bus driver, hijacked the vehicle and hit several cars while driving it under the influence of drugs in the Mission District on Friday night.
Police identified the suspect as Rickey Dancy, 36.
Just before 8 p.m. Friday, Dancy allegedly assaulted the Muni driver and commandeered the vehicle at Cortland and Mission streets. From there, he drove more than a mile north to 19th and Guerrero streets, hitting several other cars along the way, said San Francisco police public information Officer Robert Rueca.
Dancy's possible motive for the hijacking remained under investigation Sunday, but jail records indicated he may have been under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.
Dancy, who remained in custody at the San Francisco County jail Sunday, was booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs, carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon, battery of a transit worker, tampering with a vehicle of public transportation, vandalism and several counts of hit-and-run driving.
Officer Raj Vaswani tweeted Friday night that about 10 cars had been hit by the bus. There were no passengers aboard at the time.
Video of the incident obtained by KRON4 shows the empty Muni bus swerving in the middle of the street, crossing over into the opposite lane, and cutting off cars as it made wide right turns.
Delaney Rua, who was working at Delfina in the Mission on Friday night, said that from the restaurant she heard several sirens and saw six to eight police cars parked along 18th Street up to the intersection with Guerrero, as well as two or three more blocking the intersection from the Guerrero side.
The bus, she said, was parked diagonally across that intersection with "EMERGENCY CALL POLICE 911" flashing on the display above the windshield that would normally identify the line.
Rueca said police took Dancy into custody after the bus was stopped. Police did not provide any possible motive for the hijacking.
An ambulance responded to the scene to treat the bus driver and another motorist for what Rueca said appeared to be non-life-threatening injuries. The incident is under investigation.
By 10 a.m. Saturday, there were no signs of damage at 19th and Guerrero, witnesses said.
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