Tour operator arrested, running business with stolen school buses (Mugshot)
Posted by: Jon Ben-Mayor on 11/09/2013 07:44 AM [ Comments ]
A tour company owner in Jacksonville FL., has been arrested and charged with 5 counts of auto theft after it was discovered that at least 8 stolen buses were being used by 95 South Tours and Transportation for shuttling Florida-Georgia fans over the weekend. I guess not owning the vehicles keeps overhead down from all that pesky maintenance and such.
At least two of the yellow school buses missing from Lowndes County, Ga. in October were found parked near EverBank Field on Saturday night. According to News4Jax, the drivers, who told police they were working for 95 South Tours and Transportation, where there to shuttle football fans to the game.
"Our detectives are still working this case, it's very active. We don't know how big it's going to get," said Jacksonville Public Information Officer, Melissa Bujeda.
Another bus was stolen from First Student in Jacksonville in 2009, and three reported stolen from Kingsland, Ga., last year, were recovered at Rock's business.
"At that time, we found four additional buses that had been reported stolen," said Bujeda. "Three we were able to confirm and one had an altered VIN on the bus, and later on we were able to determine two of those buses were stolen out of Kingsland, Georgia and one of those buses was out of Jacksonville."
Alphonso Rock On Monday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested 44-year-old Alphonso Rock (pictured in Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo) at the Lane Avenue headquarters of the transportation company.
Flagler County deputies say two school buses stolen from their county in August recovered in Gainesville were also traced to 95 South Tours.
Rock was booked into the Duval County jail on charges of theft of a motor vehicle less than $100,000.
"Our detectives are still working this case, it's very active. We don't know how big it's going to get," said Jacksonville Public Information Officer, Melissa Bujeda.
Another bus was stolen from First Student in Jacksonville in 2009, and three reported stolen from Kingsland, Ga., last year, were recovered at Rock's business.
"At that time, we found four additional buses that had been reported stolen," said Bujeda. "Three we were able to confirm and one had an altered VIN on the bus, and later on we were able to determine two of those buses were stolen out of Kingsland, Georgia and one of those buses was out of Jacksonville."
Alphonso Rock On Monday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office arrested 44-year-old Alphonso Rock (pictured in Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo) at the Lane Avenue headquarters of the transportation company.
Flagler County deputies say two school buses stolen from their county in August recovered in Gainesville were also traced to 95 South Tours.
Rock was booked into the Duval County jail on charges of theft of a motor vehicle less than $100,000.
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