Ex-employee arrested after taking U-M bus for joyride on I-94

University of Michigan Department of Public Safety spokeswoman Diane Brown said a U-M police officer made a traffic stop on South State Street at 3:45 a.m. Friday because a man was speeding.

The driver told police he was a U-M bus driver and had just seen a U-M bus leaving the yard at a time when he knew no more buses were supposed to be on the road. He told police he was speeding because he was trying to follow the bus.

The police officer went in search of the bus and found it traveling eastbound on I-94, Brown said. The officer followed the bus as it exited the freeway at Huron Street in Ypsilanti, where the former U-M transportation employee - a Romulus resident - then surrendered to police.

The 23-year-old did not appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, Brown added.

The man was placed under arrest for unlawfully driving away an automobile, processed and transported to the Washtenaw County Jail, where he awaits arraignment.

Officials said they still haven't determined where the man was headed in the bus.