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Suspect In Custody After Stolen Jeep Hits School Van In Mount Oliver

MOUNT OLIVER (KDKA) -- Police in Mount Oliver arrested a man Tuesday evening who they say crashed a stolen jeep into the front end of an A-1 Transit school van that was returning to a bus garage in Lawrenceville.

Mount Oliver Police Sgt. Matt Juzwick told KDKA-TV that the suspect walked into Beckman Motors on Penn Avenue pretending to be interested in buying a vehicle.

Authorities have identified the suspect as 26-year-old Dakar Hampton from Carrick.

Instead, Juzwick said, "the suspect found a set of keys, and walked across the street, and drove the jeep off the lot."

He then continued driving up a street in the wrong direction, and ended up colliding with a school van, operated by A-1 Transit.

There were two women in the van, the operator, and an aide.

Neither were seriously hurt.

Luckily, the driver had just dropped off two special needs students moments before the stolen, red jeep plowed into it, sending the van into the side of a building on Hayes Avenue.

Hampton got away on foot, but was taken into custody a short distance from the scene.

While being transported, investigators say the suspect allegedly threatened the lives of the Mount Oliver police officers taking him downtown. Hampton is also accused of causing some damage to their police cruiser by kicking and banging his head.

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