HIGHLAND PARK, Michi. (WXYZ) — A suspect stole an ambulance outside a Highland Park apartment complex while a contracted EMT was inside tending to a patient Wednesday afternoon.
The theft happened around 1 p.m. at the Gabrielle Apartments and Townhomes on Second Avenue near Manchester. Police say the EMT had stepped away from the vehicle when the suspect spotted the unattended ambulance left running outside, climbed in, and drove off.
Highland Park Police pursued the stolen ambulance to Grand River and Temple in downtown Detroit, where officers cornered and arrested the driver.
A second EMS unit was dispatched to treat the original patient. Police confirm that the individual is expected to be OK and say nothing was taken from inside the stolen ambulance.
"That's crazy that somebody would do that. That's, like, really insane- that somebody would really get in the ambulance and pull off when they come to check on somebody. That's crazy," Jackie Chambers, a neighbor, said.
Chambers said she was relieved the suspect was caught.
"Well, I'm glad they caught him. That's good, because you ain't had no business doing that anyway. You put yourself in jail, so, yeah, I'm glad. It's a good thing that he gone."
Brenda Thomas, who said she has lived in the area for 20 years, said she had never seen anything like it.
"I've been here 20 years and ain't never seen nothing like that. That's a shame because somebody needed some medical attention. And now they have to send another van to check on the person and I hope whomever that they're gonna be well taken care of."
AmeriPro Health, the EMS provider, declined to comment.
Once the Highland Park Police Department finishes its investigation, officers will hand the case over to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for a charging decision.
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