Sayre man arrested in connection to Athens music store bus crash

Yahoo

13-06-2025

ATHENS, Pa. (WETM) — A Sayre man was arrested in June after police said he stole a school bus and drove it into a business in Athens back in May.
Jason Wayne Houghtalen, 42, was arrested and seen in court in June on several felony charges including:
Theft by unlawful taking, a grade three felony.
Criminal mischief-tampering with property, a grade three felony.
Accidents involving damage to unattended vehicles or property, a summary offense.
Around midnight on Sunday, May 25, officers from the Athens Township Police Department were sent to a report of a bus that had driven into a building in the 200 block of South Main Street in Athens.
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At the scene, officers found a yellow school bus sticking out of the north side of Yale's Music Shop with debris and dust still in the air, according to a criminal complaint.
The scene was searched and no one was found inside the bus or the business when officers arrived. A witness in the area told police they saw someone walking away away from the scene limping and walking up Central Avenue.
Police went searching for the person, later identified as Houghtalen, and found him in front of a business on South Elmira Street, not far from the crash scene.
Houghtalen was met by police who said he had blood on his hands and was acting strange, so out of safety, was detained, the report said.
Another officer met with Houghtalen and explained to his colleagues that he knew who he was and that he had intellectual disabilities, making it difficult for Houghtalen to communicate with people.
The officer asked Houghtalen if he had driven a bus that night, with the complaint saying Houghtalen said yes, both verbally and by shaking his head. Houghtalen was taken from South Elmira Street back to the scene of the crash where he was treated by EMS and then taken to the hospital.
The music shop was checked for fire or smoke before it was checked for structural integrity. The hole was secured and the building was stabilized, police said.
It was later learned the school bus came from across the street at the Dandy Mini Mart when the driver told police they parked it at the back of the Dandy and it was taken from there. Police later got access to camera footage from the Dandy and said it showed Houghtalen getting into the bus before accelerating at high speeds into the side of the music shop. Houghtalen was seen then walking out the back door of the bus and limping away from the scene south down South Main Street.
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As the scene was clearing up, a resident in the area reported to police that someone had been driving around a skid steer on Susquehanna Street in Athens. He told police the engine was still running and evidence showed that someone was driving around in circles with it, the report said. The owner of the construction business was contacted and told police he didn't drive the skid steer at all that day.
Police used this information and Houghtalen's history of stealing construction vehicles to declare that Houghtalen drove the skid steer around until the parking brake was activated by accident, causing him to leave it parked on the sidewalk, the complaint said. Police believe that Houghtalen got out of the skid steer and walked to the Dandy where he took the bus.
Police had met with one of Houghtalen's family members at their home in Sayre to try and find out how Houghtalen ended up in Athens. The family told police that Houghtalen was put to bed around 9 p.m. on May 24 and must have gotten up in the middle of the night to leave the house, walking his way to Athens and specifically the construction site, police said.
Houghtalen was later arrested and processed on Thursday, June 12, and had an initial hearing with a judge scheduled for June 17. Houghtalen is being held on $100,000 bail.
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