DETROIT – A man from Detroit stole an emergency services vehicle rig, and then took it on a joyride. While the man was in the vehicle, he also decided to use the EMS radio.
The wild scene unfolded late at night on Wednesday, April 20, on Detroit’s west side, with the driver eventually taking the stolen rig onto the Lodge Freeway.
“A gentleman jumped in the truck and took off,” said Chief James Harris of the Detroit Fire Department.
Detroit EMS said they were stunned as they went inside the station house on Ryan Road to grab some gear for their next call to help those in dire need. The crew said they went back inside the station for one second when the event unfolded.
“For a hot second,” Harris said. “Literally a split second, then this gentleman jumped in the medic rig, the ambulance, and he took off.”
The crew said they watched as the man drove off in their ambulance, leaving them helpless.
After the man jumped in the EMS, he decided to hop on their radio.
“I don’t know what to do,” said the suspect in the EMS. “I quit, I quit, I quit, I quit!”
Harris said he could hear with the suspect said on the radio, but the incident was very unusual.
“(It) was very strange and very unusual,” Harris said. “It doesn’t happen every day.”
The ambulance is equipped with GPS so the medics eventually were able to track their ambulance, which happened to be more than 17 miles away. They were able to relay the location to Michigan State Police the entire time.
Soon after, troopers were able to stop the ambulance and later arrested the driver without incident.
“Thank goodness there was not a life or death call at that moment,” Harris said.
Local 4 checked with the prosecutor’s office Friday night, and at the moment, no charges have been processed against the driver who was behind the wheel of the stolen EMS.