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2 Arrested For Anne Arundel County School Bus Theft

CROWNSVILLE, MD (WJZ)-- Anne Arundel County police have arrested two suspects hours after recovering a school bus that was stolen overnight in Crownsville. Police say the motive was alcohol and cigarettes.

According to police, the bus was located just before 9 a.m. in a secluded area in Davidsonville off Governors Bridge Road and Strawberry Run. It was spotted by the department's aviation unit.

Investigators say the bus sustained extensive damage when the suspects broke out windows and struck a BGE tower before crashing it into the wooded area; the suspects also attempted to set the bus on fire after the crash.

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Police say 24-year-old Travis Edward Champagne and 24-year-old Nicole Jo-Ann Adams stole the public school bus around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday from a lot lat 1229 Generals Highway in Crownsville.

Reportedly under the influence of alcohol, the suspects were looking for change to buy cigarettes.

No kids were on the bus when it was stolen.

Around 11:15 a.m., a witness reported seeing two suspicious people walking in the middle of the roadway at the intersection of Governors Bridge Road and Strawberry Run Road around 6:15 a.m.  The witness description of the two people matched the image captured on video surveillance from the bus.

Around noon, the suspects were located at a home in the 700-block of Governor's Bridge Road and taken into custody without incident.

Champagne and Adams have been charged with first-degree burglary, theft over $100,000, destruction of property over $100,000 and attempted arson.

The suspects have no known affiliation with Anne Arundel County Public Schools.

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