LAOTTO, Ind. A former part-time bus driver with a history of stealing motorcoaches and using them to make charter runs has been arrested again for possessing a stolen coach.

Derrick Jones of Toledo, Ohio, was arrested by law enforcement officials in Erie County, Mich., after a coach belonging to American Heritage Trails of Laotto, went missing.

Five years ago, Jones was arrested and charged with stealing a coach for the second time from Lakefront Lines garage in Toledo, Ohio. (See July 1, 2003 Bus & Motorcoach News.)

This time around, officials think Jones stole a bus from American Heritage and drove it to Erie, Mich., where he parked it in space he had rented on the lot of an RV dealer.

Here is Jones M.O. for his latest caper:

On Oct. 27, he paid a visit to American Heritage Trails, saying he was interested in booking trips for his church group. He identified himself as John Johnson.

One week later, a 2007 MCI E4500 coach disappeared from American Heritage Trails lot. Interestingly, Johnson/Jones was the first person to pop into the minds of American Heritage personnel when they thought about who could have taken the coach.

Thats because Johnson/Jones had had access to the area where coach keys were kept when he visited the company on Oct. 27. And, in talking with Johnson/Jones, American Heritage staff learned he was familiar with coaches. The E4500 has a keyless entry system and only someone knowledgeable about buses would have known how to deal with the system.

American Heritage also caught a break. E-ZPass records showed the coach passed through a toll booth late on the night it was taken. Indiana Toll Road officials were able to provide a photo showing Johnson/Jones behind the wheel of the coach.

Knowing which direction the stolen coach was headed, American Heritage dispatched employees to scour the countryside, looking for the bus. It was a pair of American Heritage staffers who spotted the coach on the RV lot in Michigan.

American Heritage alerted law enforcement and police set up a sting and arrested Johnson/Jones on the lot while he was attempting to remove the coach decals.

"Jones told the RV dealership ... he was planning on using the bus to take passengers to the Obama presidential inauguration in Washington in January," said Bill McKinley, American Heritage vice president.

So far, Johnson/Jones has only been charged with possession of stolen property. Officials are trying to develop enough evidence to also charge him with theft, a more serious allegation that carries a much stiffer penalty.

On at least two occasions early in this decade, Johnson/Jones stole buses from Lakefront Lines and used them to make charter runs he had booked. McKinley said Johnson/Jones also had been convicted of stealing a bus from Ground Transportation Specialists in Taylor, Mich., and a fourth coach from another company.

How does Jones keep getting away with it? "He tells a good story," says McKinley.