The Lee County Sheriff’s Office had to rush to Golisano’s Children’s Hospital because someone decided that an ambulance would make the perfect getaway vehicle. It's not every day you hear about someone stealing an emergency vehicle, I mean, it's not the most practical of getaways, but that’s exactly what went down. Who knew that Southwest Florida would become the setting for the next Fast and Furious film? Right in the middle of Lee County.
According to NBC2, deputies worked some tech magic, pinging the GPS of the stolen ambulance. Turns out, it was chilling at a RaceTrac gas station. So, our deputies roll up and find , Ariel Marchan-Le Quire, a 30-year-old Florida woman, decided to make a run for it in the boosted ambulance.
Ambulance Action:
She was driving like a total maniac, swerving, drifting, almost flipping that big ol’ ambulance! It wasn’t long before the deputies decided it was safer to back off and let the aviation unit keep an eye on her from the sky.
Eventually, Ariel decided to pull over by the Island Park Road and US-41 intersection. That’s where the deputies swooped in and arrested her. Fortunately, the ambulance was empty with no one inside to witness Areil's insane joyride.
Ariel wasn’t new to the criminal game, because she had a rap sheet that stretched across multiple states! She had charges like resisting arrest, battery, and of course theft of a vehicle. This time, she racked up charges like leaving the scene of a crash and grand theft of a motor vehicle. Plus fleeing and eluding, theft of emergency equipment. Oh, and resisting an officer. Boy she is really checking those crime boxes!
So, what do we learn from all this? If you see Ariel above water and on the road, you might want to keep your distance.
Someone in Chicago stole an ambulance and led 16 police cars on an 80 mile chase
It what could have been a scene right out of the tv show "Shameless", someone in Chicago stole an ambulance and led police on an 80 mile, more than an hour long chase. There was a news helicopter overhead catching all the action and at one point, the news crew in the helicopter zoomed out and counted - 16 police vehicles! According to the Chicago Sun Times, "Benjamin K. Herrington, 46, entered the ambulance as it sat empty, parked on the street outside a fire station in the 200 block of West Cermak Road around 4:40 p.m." in the Chinatown area of Chicago. He then led the chase at speeds of excess of 70 miles per hour primarily down Interstate 55. That's not exactly a high speed chase, but hey, it's an ambulance. If this was Grand Theft Auto an ambulance would be a 10/10 for endurance and durability, but speed and acceleration would be a 2. Fortunately the ambulance had no one in the back. At some point, wait a minute. I don't want to ruin it for you. Check out the videos below and if you can have the sound up, enjoy the commentary of the news crew.
