A former Salt Lake City school bus driver is accused of setting his bus on fire while children were on board.
The 58-year-old man, Michael Austin Ford, was formally charged Monday with arson on the vehicle of an organization that receives federal funds and pleaded not guilty, CNN reports.
He also faces 10 counts of aggravated arson.
The facts with which he is accused date back to February 2022 and April 2023 when on these two dates he allegedly started a fire in a bus carrying children while it was moving.
He allegedly used an incendiary object and continued on his way even though the smoke bothered the children during the first event.
The second incident was reportedly filmed.
Mr. Ford was arrested in April 2023 and questioned by authorities, but was released.
He was arrested again last October.
The ex-bus driver also reportedly admitted his participation in three other fires on buses he was driving, the first of which dates from the early 2000s.
The defendant was employed by the Granit School District since 1998 until he was terminated in June 2023.
