A Utah school bus driver has been arrested after being accused of setting multiple buses on fire within the past few years, including one with 66 children onboard.
RELATED STORIES: Elementary School Teacher Accused Of Raping Student And Claims She’s Pregnant With His Child
Police arrested 58-year-old Michael Austin Ford on Monday for aggravated arson, aggravated child abuse, and criminal mischief. A police booking affidavit said he was connected to at least eight fires over the last several years, as reported by KSL. There was one incident on February 24, 2022, where Ford was driving a Granite School District bus with 66 children on board, and surveillance footage showed smoke “coming under the bus dash.” The affidavit said Ford continued to drive while smoke came out of the dash.
“The suspect clearly has a willful and wanton disregard for the safety of children, the public and himself by attempting to light a school bus full of children on fire. The suspect has nothing left to lose due to setting his house/vehicle on fire within the last week and the prior incidents.”
RELATED STORIES: California Teen, 16, Body Slammed By Police Officer During Fight At High School Parking Lot
The footage also showed the children covering their faces with shirts and coughing. Seconds later, Ford stopped the bus, and the students got out. He later extinguished the smoke with a fire extinguisher. On April 7 of this year, another video captured Ford holding an object that was identified as a thumb-strike lighter. The arrest report said, “The suspect looks down and starts lighting the electrical components under the dashboard on fire with the thumb-strike lighter. The suspect continued driving the bus, looking down several times at smoke and intermittently visible flames.”
Moments later, he extinguished the fire, but this incident led school district administrators to investigate and contact the Utah state fire marshal.
“Through further investigation, (the investigating officer) has learned that Michael Ford … was involved in a total of eight fires. Four bus fires involving Granite School District (buses), two fires at his residence located in West Valley City, one vehicle fire in Bluffdale, and one additional vehicle fire in 2009,”
Ford worked as a school bus driver for the district since 1998, and he was terminated from the district several months ago, as per the investigation. “He was hired after passing appropriate background checks as required by law. In April of 2023, Mr. Ford was placed on leave after evidence surfaced that he was involved with the tampering of a bus. That evidence was used by Granite District police to arrest Mr. Ford on April 10, 2023, for arson. The investigation was then turned over to the State Fire Marshall’s office for further investigation,” the district said in a statement on Tuesday.
