02/21/19 Harris County, TX – Man Taken To Kingwood Hospital – Man Jumps Up And Steals The Harris County Emergency Services District 5 Ambulance That Brought Him To The Hospital – Chase And Spikes As He Is Stopped – Taken Back To Hospital

February 21, 2019

www.ems1.com

A man stole an ambulance that was used to take him to Kingwood Hospital on Thursday morning, leading police on a chase that ended after officers spiked the vehicle’s tires, authorities said.

While police were taking the man into custody, he can be heard on Metro Video using repeated profanities toward someone on the scene. He also repeatedly said he believes in God.

“Why did I just steal an ambulance?” the man said in the video. “I’m a normal man that believes in God.”

Officials with the Harris County Emergency Services District No. 5 said they’re not sure whether the man will face charges. Christy Graves, the district’s director of operation, said paramedics got a routine call around 3 a.m. for a patient who was “supposedly altered.”

She said the patient was calm at the time and consented to being taken to Kingwood Medical Center. When they arrived at the hospital, the man abruptly jumped back in the running ambulance and drove away, Graves said. The keys were still in the vehicle, she said.

She said the chase ended roughly 17 miles east at Antelope Drive and Moose Drive. Dispatchers used GPS tracking to help police locate the ambulance. Surrounding authorities deployed two sets of spikes to blow the ambulance’s tires, according to Metro Video.

He wasn’t wearing a shirt when police were taking him into custody. He was again transported to a hospital with unknown injuries, Metro Video reported.

After the incident, Graves stressed the dangers of the situation.

“Ambulances are very heavy, and they look lighter than they appear,” she said. “People luckily see them and usually yield, but if you don’t have lights on you’re driving in regular traffic with it.”