4/7/24 Greensboro, NC – Woman Steals Piedmont Triad County Ambulance – Crashed Into State Trooper – Severe Damage

Several emergency agencies responded after an ambulance crashed on South Holden Road in Greensboro, according to Guilford County EMS.

At around 10:58 p.m. on Saturday, Guilford County first responders and several other agencies came to the scene of a crash involving a Piedmont Triad Ambulance & Rescue ambulance.

Guilford County EMS says that the ambulance that crashed was stolen from a hospital in Randolph County, no patients were on board at the time and no EMS personnel were involved in the theft.

Law enforcement officers say that multiple law enforcement vehicles were damaged as a result of the stealing of the ambulance.

North Carolina State Highway Patrol says that several of their vehicles were struck by the stolen ambulance as well as several poles.

Randolph County EMS reports that the ambulance belonged to a crew out of High Point and that the crew members were inside picking up another patient to transfer to another hospital when the ambulance was stolen.

Guilford County EMS says they evaluated three people at the scene but that no one was taken to the hospital. Troopers say that no one was injured in the crash.

Deputies came to Interstate 73 to assist in the search for the stolen ambulance on Saturday, according to the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office.

The ambulance was found on Interstate 73/74 and a chase began involving the sheriff’s office and state troopers.

The search led law enforcement onto Randleman Road near Guilford County and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Office and Greensboro Police Department joined the chase.

The chase ended in Greensboro on Holden Road when the ambulance crashed into several NCSHP vehicles.

The woman driving the ambulance was identified as 34-year-old Gretchen Shaylyn Patterson.

She was taken into custody by Randolph County deputies and charged with the following:

• Felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle
• Felony flee to elude arrest with a motor vehicle
• Misdemeanor driving while license revoked after an impaired revoke notice
• Misdemeanor reckless driving to endanger
• Misdemeanor speeding
• Misdemeanor failure to heed lights and sirens

Patterson is also being charged with felony larceny of a motor vehicle by the Asheboro Police Department.

She was issued a $750,000 secured bond for the charges in Randolph County and will appear in court on Monday.

While at the detention center, Patterson was served with charges from the Greensboro Police Department for misdemeanor hit-and-run leaving the scene with property damage.

Patterson is being charged by NCSHP with five counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill an emergency worker.

She was given a $1 million secured bond for those and will appear in court in Guilford County on Wednesday.

Her total bond currently sits at $1.75 million.