After Saint Louis suffered a 70-55 loss at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday night, the Billikens prepared to make the trip home.
Just one problem.
Their bus and its driver were missing.
The Billikens soon learned their 56-year-old female driver had taken the bus 40 miles away to the city of Randolph, New York, where she was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated, according to New York State Police Trooper James O’Callaghan.
“When troopers were interviewing her, they smelled the smell of alcohol,” he told ESPN.
She did not resist arrest. As of early Thursday morning, the woman was being processed at a jail in Cattaraugus County, New York. She does not have any prior arrests, O’Callaghan said.
“At first, you didn’t know whether the bus was stolen or what the total story was,” he said.
Just chilling in the Reilly Center while we try to find our missing bus. #SCNotTop10 pic.twitter.com/Au9LwpofO1
— SLU Men’s Basketball (@SaintLouisMBB) February 9, 2017
Saint Louis had concerns about the equipment and gear that had been left on the bus. But the players and staff retrieved their items after police arrested the driver and brought the bus back to St. Bonaventure.
O’Callaghan said state troopers found the driver and the missing bus with the help of GPS-equipped items that had been left on board.
UPDATE: Our bus has been located. Thanks to @TKAthletics and the St. Bonaventure staff for the help.
— SLU Men’s Basketball (@SaintLouisMBB) February 9, 2017
After grabbing their items from the original bus, the Billikens transferred to a new bus with a new driver and traveled to a local airport. Team spokesman Brian Kunderman said the Billikens reached the airport just after midnight.
“Is it unusual? Yes,” O’Callaghan said. “Typically the bus would have been stolen but not the driver arrested for being intoxicated.”
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