OAK CREEK, Wis. — Some Oak Creek families were left making alternate plans Monday morning after 37 vehicles at a GO Riteway Transportation Group facility were vandalized and catalytic converters were stolen over the weekend, according to the company.
The thefts disrupted some Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District bus routes.
TMJ4 News reporter Kaylee Staral has more in the video below:
Dave George, a father of two, said his daughter’s bus was supposed to arrive shortly after 6:30 a.m.
“I’m watching for emails, texts,” George said. “Nothing until 6:50," George said. “I knew something was going on, but what?” he said. “A little better communication goes a long way.”
Dainey Burns, a father of five who also owns a transportation business, said his two youngest children were able to take the bus Monday.
“Luckily, the bus came this morning for my two youngest, but there’s concern that thieves are still out here stealing things,” Burns said.
Oak Creek police said they responded to Go Riteway’s facility at 7433 S. 10th St. early Monday morning after an employee reported several buses were missing catalytic converters.
Police said two to three suspects entered the property between 4:15 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. Sunday and removed catalytic converters from 38 buses.
Investigators believe the suspects parked near the gate on S. 13th Street.
The incident is not the first time the GO Riteway bus lot has been vandalized.
TMJ4 News reported a similar incident in November 2025.
Dimity Grabowski, a mother and former Oak Creek alderman, said she remembers similar problems in the city.
“It’s shocking,” Grabowski said. “As a former alderman in the City of Oak Creek, this was a problem many years ago. This has happened numerous times, and it’s not acceptable.”
The company said its facility is fenced and monitored by cameras and that it is reviewing additional security measures.
In a statement, the company added that school bus lots can be targets for organized theft because of the scrap value of metals in catalytic converters.
Grabowski said something needs to change so paren’ts aren’t left scrambling.
“There needs to be a better plan in place for parents who do rely heavily on buses to bring children back and forth to school,” she said.
GO Riteway said it was moving spare buses from facilities across Wisconsin to Oak Creek and expected all afternoon routes to run.
The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District said students who couldn't get to school or arrived late because of the transportation issue would have their absences or tardies excused.
The district also said GPS tracking in the StopFinder app could be temporarily unavailable because substitute buses were being used.
Franklin Public Schools also initially warned families Monday morning that the vandalism could affect bus routes. The district later said GO Riteway informed officials that no Franklin routes were impacted.
GO Riteway said it is cooperating with the Oak Creek Police Department’s investigation.
Anyone with information about the suspects or who saw a vehicle or people near the Go Riteway gate during that time is asked to contact Detective Timothy Zwicke at 414-766-7664. Tips can also be submitted to Crime Stoppers at 414-766-7699.
This story was reported on-air by Kaylee Staral and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
It’s about time to watch on your time. Stream local news and weather 24/7 by searching for “TMJ4” on your device.
Available for download on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and more.
