7/20/26 Columbia, PA – Man Steals Penn State Health Life Lion Ambulance From Medical Call – Drove It Away And Came Back To The Medical Call – Detained By Ambulance Crew For Police Arrest

An unlicensed man briefly stole an ambulance in Columbia on Monday morning, driving it just a couple blocks, according to police.

Elijah Jordan Leed, 23, of Columbia, took the Penn State Life Lion ambulance as it was parked on Grinnell Avenue near 11th street while EMS workers were responding to a call for a sick person, according to police.

An ambulance crew member heard the engine revving when he returned to the ambulance to get a stretcher and Leed drove off, according to charging documents. Leed turned onto 12th Street, then Central Avenue and back up 11th toward Grinnell, where an ambulance crew member detained him until police arrived shortly after 4:35 a.m.

Columbia police charged Leed with theft by unlawful taking and driving without a license. He is being held at Lancaster County Prison unable to post $25,000 bail. Online court documents do not list an attorney.

Leed has about 20 convictions in Lancaster County, mostly for minor offenses such as theft, harassment, simple assault, disorderly conduct and criminal mischief over the last five years, according to online court dockets.

Leed is currently under supervision of Lancaster County Adult Probation as part of a sentence of time served to up to 23 months in prison after pleading guilty in May to indecent exposure, open lewdness and loitering and prowling stemming from a February arrest in Manor Township.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 28 in the ambulance case.