WEST VILLAGE — A man stole a BMW from a Midtown parking garage, drove it into the Village, then leaped out of the running vehicle and pushed his way onto an empty school bus where he threatened the driver with a knife, police said.
"Get out! get out!" suspect Michael Smith shouted at the driver at 6:33 a.m. on March 2 after forcing his way onto a parked school bus near Washington and Perry streets and threatening him with a knife.
There were no children on the bus at the time, police said.
Smith then tried to flee, but an officer nabbed him at the southwest corner of West and Bank Streets, police said.
As the officers were arresting him, they noticed a blue 2009 BMW was running with no one inside, police said.
They brought the car back to the precinct and ran its plates, figured out who the owner was and called her, police said.
Police said the owner told them she had left her car in a private garage on West 59th Street, and when officers went to the garage, they found surveillance video that showed their suspect getting into her car.
The parking attendants told the officers they leave the cars unlocked with the keys inside in order to be able to move them easily, police said.
The car was valued at $14,000, police said, and the suspect had damaged the right side of the car and the driver’s side bumper.
The suspect was indicted by a grand jury in New York Supreme Court on one count of menacing with a weapon. He was released without bail and is due back in court on April 19.
His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
