News

Actions

Macomb County deputies chase stolen ambulance from local hospital

Posted at 6:29 PM, Oct 09, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-09 19:22:58-04

A most unusual scene on Grosbeck early Saturday evening was captured on police dash cam video.

Macomb County Sheriff's deputies gave chase after a 21-year-old man stole an ambulance from Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Mt. Clemens. 

The man, who is known to police from earlier interactions, was a visitor at the hospital and not a patient. When he left the hospital, an ambulance was parked nearby with its engine running and no one inside.

According to police, the man made a decision to jump into the emergency vehicle and drive off.

Dash cam video from one deputy's vehicle shows the ambulance pass by on Grosbeck with another deputy in pursuit with his lights flashing.

"You could imagine what was going through the motorists' minds when they're seeing police vehicle chasing an ambulance," said Macomb County Sheriff Anthony Wikersham.

The video eventually showed a deputy moved in front of the ambulance, forcing the man to brake. He then made a decision to leave the road, driving into a park, just north of Harrington.

"Fortunately no one was in and around that park," Wickersham told 7 Action News in describing what the video showed. "The ambulance spins around and comes up a steep embankment and heads back onto Grosbeak where two deputies and Clinton Township officers were able to get in front of him, box him in, get him stopped."

A deputy drew his gun as he approached the ambulance. Wickersham said they actually had to break a window in order to get the man out of the ambulance. 

According to Wickersham, the man will be formally charged Tuesday with one count of unlawfully driving away a vehicle.