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A Utah man has been indicted by a federal grand jury after being accused of starting two school bus fires, including one in 2022 during which 42 children were on board.
The U.S. Attorney's Office of the District of Utah said over the weekend that 58-year-old Michael Austin Ford, a former school bus driver for the Granite School District, had been charged with two counts of arson of a vehicle of an organization receiving federal funds and ordered detained. A trial is set for next month.
Ford is alleged to have set a bus on fire in February 2022, at which time 42 children were inside. Footage is said to show Ford using “an ignition device” to start the fire before continuing to drive. While driving, prosecutors say, smoke is seen “billowing past his face.”
Just over a year later, in April 2023, Ford was allegedly in traffic when footage showed him again starting a fire on the bus he was driving. After that incident, local police arrested Ford, though he was ultimately released.
The allegations previously made headlines last November, at which point it was reported that Ford was actually connected to several other bus fires, including one (pictured above) that took place in 2017. Also in November, police had accused Ford of obstructing justice.
