Volunteer`s School Bus Stolen in Camden

CAMDEN, N.J. -- Students from an Atlantic County prep school who spent the week helping people in Camden got a lesson in inner-city life: Be careful where you park the bus.

The bus the sophomore boys used to travel to the city from St. Augustine Prep was stolen from the parking lot of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church Thursday.

The vehicle was recovered Friday, and the students returned to their all-boys school in Richland, N.J.

During the week in Camden, the students performed a variety of services.

"A lot of math and reading tutoring, Catholic Social Services, taking meals and helping elderly people clean their houses up. We were working with public works, scraping snow and ice off of the sidewalks this week," said Brother David Graber, of St. Augustine Prep.

"I guess I can walk away knowing that during the short time that we had here, I was able to make a difference. I think that's the most important thing to all of us," said Richard Barzaga, a student involved in the project.

The bus was parked behind the church out of which the students worked. The keys were not in the ignition.

"It's just crazy to see. I can't believe someone would really take it," said Stephen Coskey, one of the St. Augustine students.

It wasn't clear who would steal a school bus, or why. But the vehicle was recovered Friday behind an abandoned house, and the students returned to their all-boys school in Richland.

A Camden police patrol officer spotted the bus behind a house three blocks away from the church. There was not damage to the bus. Investigators dusted it for fingerprints to find out who might have stolen it.

"Our bus has been found. Where it's been, what it was doing, we don't know yet. But we'll leave it to the cops to tell us what's going on there. So, we have a way to get home. We don't have to hitchhike to get home today," Graber said to his students.

Despite the bus incident, the students said they learned enough this week to leave Camden with a positive attitude.

"I am fortunate that I was born into the family that I am and we can afford to go out and buy things," Coskey said.

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