05/13/18 Philadelphia, PA – Ambulance Carjacked – Damaged While EMT Was In Back Of Ambulance – EMT Was Fought And Was Thrown Out Of Moving Ambulance – Injured – Escaped – 1 Arrested

www.nbcphiladelphia.com

A suspected carjacker pushed a first responder out of his stolen ambulance early Monday. GPS was credited with helping to track down one of the suspects.

The 32-year-old ambulance driver was doing some work in the back of his running ambulance parked at 12th and Loudon streets in the Logan section of Philadelphia just before 3 a.m. when the worker felt the ambulance suddenly moving, he told Philadelphia Police.

“When he realized the ambulance was moving he went into the driver compartment and saw two people he didn’t know who were actually stealing the ambulance,” Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small said.

The ambulance driver and the carjacking suspect in the passenger seat fought for several minutes, driving in about a one mile loop, before the suspect pushed the worker out of his ambulance at 12th and Rockland streets, the driver told investigators.

The worker knew that despite losing the struggle for the ambulance, he still had something working in his favor – the vehicle’s GPS. He called police and he called his headquarters, Small said.

“They began to track the ambulance,” Small said.

Police spotted the ambulance around 11th and Rockland streets and pulled over the emergency vehicle. The victim identified the driver as one of the suspected carjackers, police said. At some point, the passenger who struggled with the ambulance worker hopped out of the vehicle.

The 42-year-old carjacking suspect appeared to be highly intoxicated, Small said.

The ambulance driver suffered a shoulder injury, police said.

The man who allegedly pushed the worker wasn’t in the vehicle and remained at large Monday morning.

The motivation for the theft wasn’t clear, investigators said.

Empire State Medi-Cab didn’t immediately respond to request for comment.

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