08/11/18 Gaffney, SC – 20 Year Old Woman Steals Ambulance – Damages It – Chased To North Carolina – She Threw The GPS Unit Out The Window

www.groupstate.com

A Gaffney woman accused of stealing an ambulance from Mary Black Hospital Gaffney has been arrested.

Deputies from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office responded at 8:05 a.m. Friday to 145 Medical Center Drive, Gaffney for a report of a motor vehicle theft of an ambulance, according to a statement from Cherokee County Sheriff Steve Mueller.

The suspect, later identified as 20-year-old Chelsea Jaynes Wylie, walked up to the hospital’s ambulance headquarters and asked the driver in the ambulance for a ride. According to the statement, the driver told Wylie he could not give her ride but would check inside the hospital to see if someone could help her.

As the driver got out of the ambulance, deputies said Wylie got into the vehicle and drove off. As the ambulance sped it away, it struck wooden decking, damaging the vehicle.

The ambulance was equipped with GPS, allowing ambulance staff to track its movement. During the drive, investigators said Wylie threw the GPS unit out of the ambulance’s window.

Deputies tracked the ambulance on Interstate 85 and contacted law enforcement in North Carolina to help track the vehicle as it crossed the state line. According to Mueller’s statement, Wylie drove the ambulance back toward South Carolina. The ambulance was stopped by deputies at an off ramp at Exit 106.

Wylie was taken into custody in booked into Cherokee County jail. She was charged with larceny/grand larceny valued at more than $10,000, malicious damage to property more than $2,000 but less than $10,000, and malicious damage to property less than $2,000.

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