Suspect arrested, bus recovered in Pickens County
Decades ago, the now defunct Trailways Bus Line made a regular stop in Copperhill, carrying both passengers and freight into and out of town.
Unable to find such a convenient way to leave, David Neal York is accused of stealing a Fannin County school bus to create his own personal bus line.
York, 27, of 115 Highland Street, Copperhill, is accused of taking a 1999 International bus from Jerry Pack’s Car Wash Thursday, January 7, sometime in the two hours around noon.
According to a report filed by McCaysville Police Officer Alison Taulbee, she received a call from Fannin County dispatch at 2:21 p.m. that day and was told a Pickens County deputy had the bus stopped and a male subject in custody. That was the first time McCaysville authorities had been told of the theft, although Fannin County dispatch had alerted all surrounding agencies when the theft was reported about two hours earlier.
Taulbee’s report said she spoke with Denver Foster, the Fannin County School System’s transportation director, who had reported the theft. Foster said Pack contacted him at approximately 1 p.m. saying that sometime during the previous two hours someone had stolen the bus from the car wash lot.
A statement from School Superintendent Dr. Michael Gwatney Thursday afternoon, after the bus was stopped and the suspect captured, assured parents, “there were no students on the bus.”
The statement described the chain of events, which began coming to an end when a check of the district’s bus tracking system showed the bus traveling south on Highway 515. “Law enforcement was notified, and the bus was stopped in Pickens County,” Gwatney’s statement said.
Taulbee picked York up from the Pickens County Jail and transported him to the Fannin County Detention Center where he was booked.
McCaysville Police Detective Cory Collogan, who was called to assist with the case by Chief Mike Earley, took warrants charging York with one misdemeanor, wrong class of drivers’ license; and three felonies, theft by taking auto, entering auto with intent to commit theft, and interference with government property.
Collogan said after stealing the bus, York got lost in McCaysville and stopped to ask one person for directions to get back to the highway.
He then traveled Highway 60 to Lakewood, where he turned south onto Highway 515, the trip that led to his capture in Pickens County.
Collogan said late Friday afternoon that more charges are pending.