Driver Gets Strange Feeling About Boy On Bus Then He Looks At His Feet And Sees It

why this bus driver instantly called the cops when a boy boarded his bus [Music] [Applause] [Music] bus drivers transport hundreds of people on a daily basis they see various faces get on and off their buses some are regulars and some they only see that day that's precisely the experience tim watson has on his daily bus route but one fateful day a couple of new faces would become stuck in his mind forever when a man and a little boy boarded his bus on july 5th 2015 watson couldn't have imagined what he would have to do next but thanks to his sharp eyes and instinctive actions watson would become a hero when tim watson arrived for work one friday morning he didn't expect anything out of the ordinary most days were typically the same for the bus driver he'd start as rude and watch the collection of passengers pass through the bus at each stop in the eight months that watson had been working for the santa clara valley transportation authority he'd seen his fair share of passengers some were happy to be there while others had seen better days each passenger was preoccupied with their lives and he knew to stay out of their business until one little boy entered the bus watson's route started at the great mall in the bay area city of milpitas california there were the usual passengers on their daily commute to school or work but occasionally there were a few who were taking his route for the first time as watson was preparing to start his route a man came up to him he asked me what time the bus was leaving i told him it leaves at 11 13 am he told marin independent journal watson didn't think much of it but the man would turn out to be someone he paid close attention to shortly after his inquiry the man boarded the bus with a little boy he attempted to pay for the bus fare with two dollars but watson informed him it cost four dollars to ride the express bus that's when the man whipped out a transit card for disabled persons to get a reduced fare the man who looked to be about in his mid-20s didn't appear disabled but watson knew not to make assumptions and let them board the bus the man and the boy quietly walked to some seats toward the back as they sat down watson noticed that the little boy had started crying this was not an unusual sight to see on the bus he'd seen many young children board the bus with their families and start having temper tantrums watson figured that that must be what was going on with this little boy and proceeded to mind his own business but still there was something about the boy's demeanor that watson couldn't get out of his mind it didn't seem like he was having a typical temper tantrum watson began his 15-mile bus route and as much as he needed to pay attention to the road he kept glancing at the teary-eyed boy through his rear-view mirror the man tried to get the boy to keep quiet even telling him to try to go to sleep still the boy continued to cry which gave watson a strange feeling there was something about this boy's sadness that just didn't seem right and watson couldn't help but feel like he needed to keep his eye on the situation that's when he heard a beeping sound and soon it would be time for watson to spring into action the vta was alerting all of its drivers of a child abduction that occurred earlier that morning a three-year-old boy was taken from the milpitas public library that day at around 10 40 am as watson read more of the urgent message his mind started to put two and two together the message described the missing three-year-old is wearing a dark blue shirt plaid shorts and red croc sandals watson instantly thought of the boy who was crying in the back of the bus and wondered if there was a connection there he peered into his rear-view mirror but couldn't get a good look at what the boy was wearing watson couldn't do much at that moment as he was driving so he continued on his route despite trying to put it out of his mind watson's parental instincts wouldn't let him as a father of two himself watson's heart sank as he read the urgent message he thought of the missing child's parents and couldn't even begin to imagine how they must feel not knowing where their little boy was the urgent message also described the suspect as an african-american man approximately 25 years old and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and jeans watson instantly connected this description to the man who was with the boy on the bus at that moment he knew he needed to find a way to verify that these were the people the police were looking for watson looked back at the man who looked impatient to disembark watson had to find a way to verify that he matched the description of the suspect without tipping him off watson knew that the man could get off the bus with the boy at any moment so he needed to devise a plan quickly to keep them on board all the passengers of the bus apparently were unaware of the missing child situation that was going on and were minding their own business nearing the end of the route watson thought hard about what he should do next that's when he decided to do something out of the ordinary and pull off the freeway he needed to execute this plan as seamlessly as possible watson stopped in front of the nearest mcdonald's and told passengers he was looking for a green backpack left behind by someone who'd already gotten off it was the perfect excuse to get up and get a good look at the man and the little boy luckily none of the passengers questioned watson's impromptu stop since a lone backpack could have signaled something serious like a bomb threat asking the passengers to check under their seats while looking himself watson was able to slowly make his way towards the back of the bus this was the perfect ruse for watson to be able to get a good look at the suspicious man and the little boy when he finally reached the row that they were in he asked the man if he'd seen the green backpack the man replied that he had not at that point watson was able to get a good look at the boy's clothes sure enough i see the plaid shorts and red shoes that's what really stuck out in my mind watson told abc7 watson's suspicions confirmed he slowly made his way back to the driver's seat he proceeded to his regular route but decided to make a discreet phone call if anyone had seen him they could have figured he was letting headquarters know he didn't find the green backpack little did they know watson was making a call to the vta dispatcher to tell them that he believed the little boy and the suspected kidnapper were on his boss at that point watson was instructed on exactly what he should do the dispatcher told watson to continue on his route as normal but to drive slowly they alerted the police of watson's suspicions watson had already driven into the city of fremont miles away from where the boy was taken in milpitas watson continued to drive cautiously as he neared the end of his route he checked his rear-view mirror once again to check on the suspect and the little boy the boy's tears had subsided and the man looked like he was ready to disembark neither had suspected a thing watson knew that the authorities were aware of the situation and had plans to apprehend the suspect still he worried that one wrong move could tip the guy off and let him get away watson hoped that he could help save the little boy watson was nearing his next stop at the fremont bart station as he continued on the route he noticed police cruisers pull up behind the bus with their lights flashing but their sirens off luckily there were no windows at the back of the bus that would allow the suspect to see any of this the police quietly followed the bus to its next stop watson continued on tentatively coming to a halt when they finally arrived at the bus stop while he engaged the brakes watson noticed several police officers approached the bus from behind watson was aware that these next few moments could make or break the boy's rescue so i opened my door one slowly giving them time to get prepped and ready to go on i opened up door two the gentleman walks out calm cool collected as can be and they take him down on the spot watson recalled to abc 7 news the suspect was completely caught off guard by the fact that police were already waiting for him despite a bit of resistance police were able to detain and arrest the kidnapper the little boy knew he was being rescued his parents who had already heard the police had a potential lead were notified that their little boy had been rescued they were so relieved to hear the good news and had an emotional reunion with their son when he was taken to the police station for questioning they were too distraught to give news outlets their side of the story but incredibly grateful for the heroic bus driver who followed his intuition once news of this rescue mission was made public tim watson was lauded as a local hero if not for his sharp eyes and instincts who knows where this little boy would have ended up had the kidnapper managed to get on board the bart trains finally the boy returned to his parents at police headquarters watson couldn't believe what had just happened and that's when my own kids came to mind and i just broke down i couldn't hold myself down i just wanted to go inside the bus and reflect police said that the suspect had no connections to the family they were still trying to figure out his motives for kidnapping their son regardless of what they were the man got on the right bus because watson was driving it as a bus driver watson was taught what to do in these types of situations especially those that dealt with suspected human trafficking but it wasn't his training that sprung him into action even though he had all this training the father instinct kicked in he told milpitas independent journal