An hour-long chase with the driver of an ambulance stolen from the Dallas Fire Department came to an end on Monday afternoon, when the ambulance appeared to have jammed and the driver tried to overtake the police on foot.
Dallas police said the ambulance was removed from Fire Department No. 53 early Monday morning and was seen early in the afternoon in southeastern Dallas County.
The man behind the wheel of the ambulance refused to stop and led the police in a nearly two-hour chase that passed through Dallas County north of Collin County and through the cities of Plano, McKinney and Princeton.
Sometimes the driver was intentionally driving in the opposite direction to traffic, but no accidents were reported in connection with the chase.
It was in McKinney where the driver tried again to lose the police, sheriff’s deputies and state police in a residential neighborhood, often off the road and crossing lawns trying to escape.
The ambulance apparently hit the bottom of the curb and the driver quickly jumped out and tried to escape the police on foot while trying to catch his falling pants.
Moments later, the man was cornered in a fenced area and taken into custody by several police officers near Joyce Way and Tension Lane.
Officers from the Dallas Police Department, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas State Troopers, as well as several other agencies, helped end the chase.
Ambulance Chase
- At around 1:10 pm, the chase was underway in southeastern Dallas along Interstate 20, near Lawson. The driver was on his way to Kaufman County.
- The unit then circled Forney and returned along I-20 to I-635, where it went north to US 75.
- At about 2:05 pm, the driver was driving north on US 75 toward Plano.
- Just before 2:10 pm, the driver left the highway and entered a residential neighborhood, passing through alleys.
- At around 2:11 pm, the driver avoided several Dallas police officers, Dallas County Sheriff’s deputies, and Texas police officers who were trying to block the exit from the neighborhood.
- At around 2:18 pm, the driver picked up Texas 121 at McKinney, but left shortly thereafter.
- At about 2:30 pm, the driver was driving in the opposite direction on US 380, near Princeton.
- At 2:37 pm, the driver was driving west on US 380.
- At 2:43 pm, the driver took the ambulance off the road for a few moments to avoid the edge strips – a retractable device used by the police to shred car tires.
- At 2:55 pm, the driver was arrested while leaving the ambulance and, while trying to hold on to his pants, tried to escape from the police on foot. The driver was taken into custody moments later, near Joyce Way and Tension Lane.