SEPTA bus driver chases, catches purse snatcher: VIDEO

Keep this in mind the next time you’re wondering why your bus is so late.

A SEPTA bus driver was being praised as a hero on Friday for chasing down a purse snatcher who mugged a woman at one of his stops.

Bus operator Charles Arterbury told the Associated Press he was just making his first stop of his shift early on June 20 when he saw the suspect attack the woman.

Surveillance footage, later released by the transit authority, shows Arterbury running out of the bus and after the man. He reportedly caught the suspect a block away, and — with the help of two passengers — restrained him while dialing 911.

SEPTA officials commended Arterbury for his quick response, calling it “a heroic act” on Friday, when they released the footage.

” “It was directly related to the courageous acts of Mr. Arterbury that police responded quickly and were able to make a successful apprehension here ,” SEPTA Police CaptainCharles Lawson said of Arterbury, according to Philly Mag.

The incident happened at 29th Street and Girard Avenue at 4:35 a.m. on Monday, June 20, SEPTA said.

Arterbury, a 28-year veteran of the transportation agency, told Philly Mag he never saw anything like that before, but didn’t think twice about chasing the man down.

“I didn’t think about it,” said Arterbury. “If I would have thought about it, I wouldn’t have done it, but I think about my mom, my wife, my daughters.”

Arterbury, we salute you: