Bus Driver Helps 5-Year-Old Found Walking Alone After Skipping School

A New York City bus driver came to the rescue of a little girl after he spotted her walking alone last month.

Luis Jimenez was finishing his shift when he noticed the 5-year-old girl by herself on a sidewalk near 106th Street and Broadway in upper Manhattan.

"We have a saying in the MTA, 'If you see something, say something.' " Jimenez said. "Well, with me, I will do something."

Jimenez said he observed the child for about a block until he asked a passenger to call 911. He then pulled the bus over and alerted his dispatcher, and he and the other passengers brought the girl on the bus. Police responded to a 911 call about a missing person in the area.

"Upon arrival, it was reported to officers that a 5-year-old female was missing from school," the spokesperson says. "Responding officers immediately conducted a canvass and responded to multiple 911 calls reporting possible sightings of the missing. One of the 911 calls reported that the missing was last seen on an eastbound M116 MTA bus. Officers were able to track down and stop the bus that the missing [girl] was on. EMS responded to the location and evaluated her on scene. There were no injuries reported as a result of this incident."

Authorities said the girl’s pet fish died and she intended to go to a pet store to purchase a new one. 

"My instinct as a father came on because if I see a kid in the street in need of help,” Jimenez said about what he did, via WABC, “I would want somebody to help one of my children or one of my grandkids.”

“Helping people out driving the bus is the best thing in the world,” Jimenez said.