Man Steals Austin Ambulance With Crew, Patient in Back
Dec. 28--Two days after an ambulance parked near a downtown Austin homeless center was hijacked on Christmas, authorities identified a 28-year-old man already facing an unrelated charge as the man behind the wheel.
An Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services crew was inside the ambulance tending to a patient Sunday afternoon, with their vehicle parked near the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless on East Seventh Street. Suddenly, the vehicle started rolling away.
EMS officials said their ambulances aren't equipped with a "kill switch" that would allow operators to shut down the vehicles in the event of a theft nor is there a way for personnel to access the driver's cab from the patient care compartment. When the medics realized what was going on, they had no choice but to go for the ride.
The crew continued to treat their patient until the hijacker bailed out of the ambulance, EMS Capt. Rick Rutledge said.
Rutledge said the man drove the medics and the patient to the Brook Apartments on Woodland Avenue, about five minutes away, before he ditched the ambulance and ran away.
The medics weren't injured, and the patient was eventually taken to a hospital.
On Tuesday, Austin police identified the hijacking suspect as Rashard Williams, who was facing an unrelated charge of public intoxication, according to jail records. An arrest affidavit filed Wednesday said investigators connected Williams to the case based on his clothing, his similar appearance to a man seen in surveillance video of the incident, and papers found at the scene of the ambulance theft.
Court documents said the ambulance was valued at more than $280,000, making the theft a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.
Williams was in the Travis County Jail on Wednesday with bail set at $30,000.
Only three weeks earlier, another man pulled off a similar theft with an Austin-Travis County EMS ambulance as it sat at University Medical Center Brackenridge; he drove it more than 50 miles before being arrested in Killeen.
The previous incident happened around 9:15 a.m. Dec. 3 when a man hopped into the vehicle while its crew was dropping off a patient, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.
A state trooper initially tried to pull the vehicle over on U.S. 190 near Lampasas County Road 4330, but the driver wouldn't stop.
The driver, whom authorities later identified as 43-year-old David Oliver III, was finally taken into custody at Second Street and Avenue D in Killeen more than an hour after taking the vehicle. He was charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and evading arrest or detention, according to the DPS.
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