Saboteurs stabbed holes in tires of two school buses and deflated tires on 10 others idled by school bus drivers’ strike, authorities and bus company employees said today.
In all, 18 tires were flattened on a dozen buses, said employees of Reliant Transportation’s lot in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
Police are trying to determine if the vandalism reported this morning is related to the strike by Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which has forced 152,000 children and their parents to find other ways to get to school.
“Some buses had one flat tire some had multiple. One bus had all four,” said Leon Hasting, a Reliant employee who makes sure the buses are in compliance with safety laws and the company’s contracts.
The punctures on four tires mounted on two buses were no accident.
“They looked like they were stabbed with an ice pick or something … These were stabbed on the side,” Hastings said.
About 60 buses are parked on the lot at 831 Humboldt St. The damaged buses were in a remote part of the lot, out of view of security cameras, authorities said.
Police have been guarding the lot 24 hours a day since the strike began, said sources. It was unclear how officers didn’t see the vandalism in the lot, which is surrounded by a
chain-link fence.
The vandalized buses have been idle since the strike began Jan. 16, and haven’t been checked regularly, said sources.
Hastings said the damage was the first vandalism the company has experienced during the strike.
“We’re definitely going to beef up security,” he said. “If it happens again, we will be more prepared.”