The driver of bus #1289 told cops that she was on break Wednesday at a St. Paul gas station when the theft occurred. The Metro Transit employee left the bus running, but had activated its hydraulic brakes.

Upon discovering the bus missing, the driver contacted police, who then tracked the vehicle’s location via a GPS signal. After pulling the bus over after it exited Interstate 94 in Bloomington, officers arrested Gregory Jennrich, 31, who was alone inside the vehicle.

During police questioning, Jennrich, a Metro Transit mechanic, said that he was on his way to work when he stopped at the St. Paul gas station. Jennrich said that he was worried that “he was going to be late for work, so he took a bus that was parked outside the gas station to get there.”

Jennrich, who has worked for Metro Transit since last April, was charged with auto theft, a felony carrying a maximum five-year prison term. He is being held in lieu of $5000 bail at the Hennepin County jail.