UNDATED (WSAU-WAOW) — The Racine County Sheriff’s office says a man that threatened passengers on a Greyhound bus bound for Chicago was in the country illegally and had previously been deported.
Sheriff Christopher Schmaling identified the suspect as 33-year-old Margarito Vargas-Rosas, who lives in Chicago but works in Milwaukee as well. Schmaling wouldn’t elaborate on what led to his previous deportation or how he found his way back into the country.
Vargas-Rosas is accused of threating to kill passengers on the bus as it was going between Milwaukee and Chicago on Friday night. Frantic passengers called 911 to report the threats, however the driver didn’t pull over when law enforcement caught up with the vehicle.
Authorities eventually stopped the bus with spike strips along Interstate 94 near the Wisconsin-Illinois boarder. The driver says he didn’t pull over because he thought the incident was a training exercise, despite passenger’s pleas for him to stop.
It’s still not known of Vargas-Rosas was actually armed. No weapons were found on him when he was booked in the Lake County, IL jail, and officers are continuing to search the bus for any weapons. Charges against him include making terroristic threats. Portions of the interstate were shut down for several hours Friday night into Saturday.
(Information from WAOW Newsline 9 contributed to this report)
