2/28/20 Bridgeport, WV – Clarksburg Man Steals Harrison County Emergency Squad Ambulance From United Hospital Center And Crashes Into The Hospital – Extensive Damage To The Ambulance And Hospital

February 28, 2020

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A Clarksburg man has been arrested after police said he stole an ambulance and crashed it into UHC, only several feet away from where it was stolen.

On Friday, February 28, at approximately 10:08 p.m., 911 operators received a call that a male suspect, who was later identified as Anthony Grooms, 54, of Clarksburg, was attempting to steal an ambulance near the emergency room entrance to United Hospital Center, according a press release from the Bridgeport Police Department.

The release stated that officers with the Bridgeport Police Department were dispatched to the scene and assisted by West Virginia State Police. As officers were arriving on scene, 911 operators updated police that the ambulance had been stolen and crashed into the UHC building, according to the release.

Police said that once they identified the suspect at Grooms, they took him into custody and charged him with grand larceny.

Officers said that an employee with the Harrison County Emergency Squad was in the back of the ambulance when she noticed someone enter the vehicle. The complaint stated that the employee got out of the ambulance and went to the front of the vehicle to see who had entered to ambulance, when it sped off being driven by Grooms. Officers said Grooms crashed the ambulance into the UHC building several feet away from where it was stolen, causing extensive damage to the ambulance and UHC building.

Police said the EMS employee who was in the ambulance before Grooms drove off stated that the ambulance and all of the equipment in it was worth more than $100,000. The employee also told police that she was the only person outside at the time of the incident, and Grooms did not have permission to operate the ambulance.

Grooms’ address was listed on his criminal complaint as 55 Columbia Blvd. in Clarksburg, which is the address of Dismas Charities, a federal halfway facility.

Grooms is currently being held at North Central Regional Jail and his bail has been set at $50,000.

12 News reached out to United Hospital Center on Monday, which declined to comment.