Stolen Ambulances
Posted on 26 July 2010 by LynThomas in Society
Ambulance theft is a real concern, with four reported in just one week. Some estimates are that over 200 a year are stolen. Many of the thieves are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
A teenage man recently turned himself in to police officers, after stealing an ambulance that was out on an emergency call in Atlanta, Georgia.
Investigators said 18-year old Frank Howard jumped in the driver’s seat and stole the vehicle while its crew was responding to a call in southeast Atlanta.
The paramedics had left the ambulance unlocked and the motor running, while attending to a call at an apartment complex.
The teenage allegedly stole the ambulance, dressed up in ambulance gear and drove the ambulance 2 blocks, before crashing it and running it off the road. The ambulance was found soon afterwards in a ditch on the side of the road.
Howard was being held in the Fulton County Jail and will be charged with auto theft.
In May 2010 two drunks jumped into an ambulance that was standing outside Upstate University Hospital.
21 year old driver, Brandon Ray, then drove the ambulance at a high rate of speed along Walnut Avenue, near Syracuse University, before police were able to stop him.
In April 2009 a Houston ambulance was stolen while paramedics were on duty. The driver hit a number of vehicles, including a police car and another ambulance, which had been blocking traffic for a police vice bust at a club.
Stolen and Wrecked Ambulance
In March 2009 the driver of a stolen ambulance caused a six-car crash in Everston, Chicago, when it ran a red light. Eight people were injured. The ambulance had been stolen from outside a nursing home.
In 1996 an ambulance was taken by vandals, from outside a house in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and driven into a car-park wall. The joyriders also vandalized life-saving equipment.
The ambulance had been about to pick up a pregnant woman and rush her to hospital. She was forced to wait a further 20 minutes before a replacement ambulance arrived.
A fully equipped ambulance costs around $175,000. The loss of an ambulance in rural areas in particular, puts the public at significant risk, often taking months to have a replacement back in service.
Funding of ambulances is also another deep concern for the community.
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[...] With four reported ambulance theft is a real concern, in just one week. Some estimates are that over 200 a year are stolen. Many of the thieves are under the influence of drugs or alcohol. A teenage man recently turned himself in to police officers, after stealing an ambulance that was out on an emergency call in Atlanta, Georgia. Read more… [...]