COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The owner of a West Side scrapyard where police allegedly found a mountain of remnants from several stolen school buses was charged Friday in a 58-count indictment.
Sergio Quintero was found hiding in the rafters of his business, after police tracked eight stolen school buses that were found dismantled and destroyed to his business, prosecutors said in March when the 44-year-old man was arrested on charges unrelated to the bus heist.
The eight school buses belonging to Sunrise Bus Company and Charter Services were found at Gonzalez Auto Parts, a scrap yard in the 3400 block of South Lawndale Avenue. The buses, which were equipped with GPS units, were stolen overnight and turned into heap of metal.
Police used the buses' GPS signals to track them to the scrap yard.
Quintero, of the 2500 block of South Drake Avenue, was not initially charged in relation to the theft. Rather, he was charged with felony possession of a title without an assignment for not having the title of a 1994 Nissan Altima.
On Friday, he pled not guilty to charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, criminal damage to property, theft and possession of a firearm by a felon, according to court records.
Two other people have been charged in connection with the stolen bus incident.
