Image via PoliceActivity/YouTube
Believe it or not, ambulances are stolen by suspects fairly often. When it happens, police are challenged since the first responder vehicles are heavy-duty trucks and thus by nature hard to stop. In this incident out of the Atlanta, Georgia metro area you can see multiple agencies coordinating to try stopping this wild chase through city streets.
Racoons mistake a Cybertruck for a trash can.
The incident was back on April 17, 2024 and started at Piedmont Henty Hospital in Stockbridge. A patient at the hospital, 27-year-old La’Darius Williams, jumped into the ambulance and took off with paramedics in the back.
Wisely, those paramedics decided to bail from the moving ambulance. Had they stayed inside during the entirety of the chase, they likely would’ve been injured far worse.
In the footage, you see a helicopter from Atlanta Police Department helping to direct and coordinate ground units, which include APD’s Auto Crimes Enforcement Unit and Georgia State Patrol.
We see one patrol car try to PIT the heavy hippo of a vehicle, which works out better than expected. For a moment the ambulance goes up on two wheels, but the suspect is able to keep it from rolling or spinning out. That cop should be lauded for excellent technique even though the outcome wasn’t what was wanted.
Heavy traffic stopped at a light allows one officer to get a Stop Stick under one of the rear tires, successfully deflating it. But the suspect keeps pushing the ambulance, perhaps unaware of the tire’s state or not caring.
What finally did the trick was another PIT, sending the ambulance careening off the road and into a barrier and finally a large utility pole. The absent tire from the Stop Stick undoubtedly helped, so the maneuver was a team effort.
Yet again, we’re left to question why first responder vehicles don’t have a device which requires an NFC chip to be held to something on the dash before it can be put into gear. That would allow a police cruiser, fire truck, or ambulance to sit idling without being a target to some random thief.
Surely someone could easily create such a device.
Image via PoliceActivity/YouTube
