Police say a Bedford Park man has been arrested and charged with stealing a van that ended up crashing, head on, into an MTA bus, injuring the driver.

According to police spokeswoman and detective, Annette Shelton, the incident occurred at 7:40 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 3, when a 2007 Dodge Van was stolen from the area in front of 2706 Valentine Avenue, between East 194th Street and East 196th Street in the Bedford Park section of the Bronx.

Shelton wrote in an email dated Aug. 11 that, at approximately 8:10 a.m., on Aug. 3, at the corner of Mosholu Parkway and Jerome Avenue, the defendant was involved in a vehicle accident with a 38-year-old male victim (the bus driver) who reported that the defendant fled the scene of the collision.

Police reported that the suspect fled southbound on Jerome Avenue. Meanwhile, Andrew Feldman who did not witness the collision itself but arrived on the scene shortly afterwards, said, “I was up the block but I heard it, and walked down the block and saw the aftermath and took the photo. I did watch the guys who [allegedly] stole the van that crashed into the bus, run off”.

Feldman said two men jumped from the stolen van, and ran away from the scene in separate directions. He said the driver and passenger allegedly abandoned the van at the location of the collision, leaving smoke coming from its engine, and oil leaking onto the street.

Asked about the passengers on the bus, Feldman said, “The passengers seemed fine. It was just the bus driver who looked injured”. Feldman, who was on his way to work at the time of the crash, added, “I followed one [suspect] under the [Jerome Avenue] overpass, and then he disappeared. I couldn’t find any cops to point him out. They hadn’t arrived at the scene yet”.

EMS reported that the driver was taken to Jacobi Hospital, and that his condition was not believed to be serious.

On Aug. 3 at 10.28 a.m., Shelton reported that police had arrested Joel Padilla, 30, of Jerome Avenue, in connection with the incident. Padilla was charged with leaving the scene of an accident, grand larceny, criminal possession of stolen property, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.

Calls to both the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Transit Workers Union Local 100, to learn more about the condition of the driver, were not immediately returned.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.