12/3/22 Elizabeth City, NC – Pasquotank-Camden Ambulance Stolen From Motorsports Event – Man Taunting Over Radio – Triple Digit Speeds – Pursuit To Virginia – Tried To Break Into Ambulance Safe – Captured – Interior Damage To Ambulance

A local man is facing charges after allegedly stealing a Pasquotank-Camden Emergency Medical Services ambulance Saturday morning and taking it on a nearly hour-long ride before being apprehended by Virginia police.

Interim police Chief Phil Webster identified the man Monday as Randy Spencer Jr., 43, and said Spencer’s last known address was the 100 block of Vickie Drive, Elizabeth City.

Webster said Spencer is being held in Southampton County, Virginia, awaiting extradition back to North Carolina. Spencer will be charged with larceny of a motor vehicle, Webster said.

Pasquotank-Camden EMS Director Jerry Newell said EMS staff at Station 50 were preparing an ambulance for standby use at a motorsports event at Morgan’s Corner about 9:50 a.m. Saturday when a man jumped in the ambulance and drove off.

Station 50 is next to Sentara Albemarle Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman confirmed Monday that Spencer was a patient at the hospital but said she could not comment further.

Spencer apparently drove the stolen ambulance north on U.S. Highway 17 before turning onto U.S. Highway 158 at Morgan’s Corner and heading west into Gates County. The ambulance then headed northward, apparently on N.C. Highway 32, toward Virginia. Newell said he was advised the vehicle at times reached “triple digit” speeds.

According to Newell, Virginia law enforcement were notified and intercepted the stolen ambulance at the state line.

According to Hampton Roads-based WTKR, Virginia officers lost the ambulance during their pursuit but later found it parked along a tree line in Southampton County. Spencer was sitting inside the vehicle, the TV station reported.

A call to a supervisor with the Southampton County Sheriff’s Office Monday to confirm those details wasn’t immediately returned.

Newell said no injuries were reported in the ambulance’s theft. The only damage to the vehicle, which was returned to Pasquotank-Camden EMS by Pasquotank deputies, was to some upholstery in the interior. Newell said the man who took the ambulance apparently tried to break into a safe in the vehicle.