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SALT LAKE CITY — A man who police say attempted to hijack a bus is facing criminal charges.
James Jake Morris, 44, who is listed as homeless in court documents, was charged Tuesday in 3rd District Court with assault with intent to commit a bus hijacking, a second-degree felony, and interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor.
Morris has a long history of substance abuse and disorderly conduct, according to court records, including a recent series of arrests in which he has claimed he was being chased and tried to get into other people’s vehicles.
On Sept. 19, Morris ran in front of a Utah Transit Authority bus near 900 South and 300 West and flagged it down, according to charging documents. The driver opened the door for Morris, who ran inside and yelled at the driver not to stop.
“Don’t stop for anybody,” he yelled, the charges state.
Morris then jumped on top of the bus driver and began hitting him while trying to grab the steering wheel, according to court documents. During the struggle, the bus doors opened again and Morris rolled out, the charges state.
“Morris then jumped on top of the bike rack in front of the bus and started banging on the window,” according to charging documents.
When a Salt Lake police officer arrived, Morris was still banging on the window and yelling “they are shooting at us,” the charges state.
Morris was taken to the ground by police and arrested, but continued to struggle with officers.
His charges come a week after he was convicted of disorderly conduct for an incident on Oct. 7. In that case, Morris was on 500 South “hitting the side of a vehicle and attempting to open the door while the vehicle was stopped in traffic,” according to a jail booking affidavit. He also yelled about a bomb being in a building and struggled with police when they arrived, the affidavit states. Morris admitted to smoking spice earlier in the day, according to the affidavit.
One week before the Oct. 7 incident, police arrested Morris for allegedly “lying in the middle of the road attacking cars,” according to a third Salt Lake County Jail affidavit.
“A woman was parked nearby with a broken right mirror. She reported that the crazed man had jumped on her car and then fallen off of it, breaking the mirror in the process. He then got up and attempted to break into the car that the woman was sitting in,” the affidavit states.
“When I went to speak with the man, he seemed highly manic and unstable, unable to sit still and unable to speak coherently,” the affidavit continues. “He continually grunted and moaned without saying anything discernible. It was clear that he was high on some substance, and that his impairment was contributing to his erratic behavior.”
Morris was also arrested in February and July for similar incidents of trying to get into other people’s vehicles and believing someone was “after” him, court records state.
