The man, 44, boarded the bus near Linden Boulevard and 197th Street at around 7:30 am, police said. He then held a fake gun up, according to NBC New York.
The driver wanted to let all of the nearly two dozen passengers off the bus but the suspect ordered him to drive.
The driver would then jump out of a window and escape the bus near 233rd Street. The suspect continued driving until he eventually crashed.
"On these buses, there's a partition which separates the passengers and the bus driver. The individual got on the bus, sat directly behind the bus driver and leaned up close to that partition the whole way. So there wasn't any room for the bus driver to exit the bus with the passengers," said NYPD Chief O'Sullivan. "I definitely want to commend the driver for his actions. He did not move the bus until everyone was off that bus."
"It definitely could have been a lot worse," he went on to say. "Again, I believe the driver was calm and did a great job up until the point of collision."
Charges are pending against the suspect. The driver suffered minor injuries after jumping out the window. Police recovered the weapon, which they revealed to be a BB gun.
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