Texas man steals ambulance, leads police on chase

HOUSTON, Texas (KHOU) - A man was arrested after police say he stole an ambulance and led them on a chase through the Houston area.

Police say the chase started at a Kroger grocery store where the suspect appeared to be helping a woman, then took off in her car. After that, police say he drove to a fire station on the east side.

“We saw the gentleman pull up in a four door sedan, he pulled right into the fire station’s parking lot. Jumped out, ran inside the open bay, jumped in the ambulance and was gone within a minute,” said Chris Murray, who works near the fire station.

Witnesses say he jumped inside the ambulance and took off and shown on surveillance video.

The ambulance’s GPS system wasn’t working, and it took a while for officials to find it.

“We had some challenges with the automatic vehicle location on it,” said Houston Fire Department Chief Rodney West.

Eventually, the police helicopter spotted the stolen ambulance traveling along the West Loop and officers on the ground rushed in to catch up. As the chase continued the driver turned onto Shepard from Westheimer.

Police put out strike strips before the driver passed beneath the Southwest Freeway, not long after that it all came to an end along Greebrier near Rice Village. Another driver was hit when he says he was trying to get out of the way.

“It wasn’t that big of an impact. There’s some damage to the car. The officer got out of the car with the pistol drawn and everything, the officer told me to get out the way,” said police.

According to police, the man was in crisis. He will be facing charges of automobile theft and a felony of evading arrest.

Copyright 2023 KHOU via CNN Newsource. All rights reserved.