CHICAGO (WLS) – A man is in custody after more than 70 miles of police chase after stealing a city ambulance in Chinatown on Monday afternoon.
Police said an ambulance from the Chicago Fire Department was parked in the 200-block West Chermak at about 4:40 p.m. Police said it was taken by a man while she was parked and unattended on the street in front of the fire department.
During the theft, a passerby stops and makes a double claim while the driver leaves. Authorities said no one was in the ambulance when it was stolen.
The thief fled south by ambulance № 66 on Stevenson Highway, pursued by Illinois police and state police, and eventually on I-55, heading south to the southwestern suburbs.
At one point, police approached the queue and rumbled, flattening the rear left tire, but not enough to stop the driver.
Just before 6:20 p.m., somewhere south of Joliet, the ambulance slowed almost to a halt, and the driver seemed to be gesturing and talking to police through the window before suddenly leaving again.
WATCH: The driver of a stolen ambulance waves to the police, seems to be considering stopping
Strips pulled out the ambulance’s rear tire, but the chase continued, with the bare rim smoking at times. By 6:30 p.m., the ambulance had reached nearly 80 miles southwest of the city, near Dwight, where the driver slowed to a stop and exited.
For a moment it seemed that the driver would surrender; he crossed the fence between the highway and the grass with his backpack and got to his knees. There seemed to be an exchange of words with the police, and the suspect suddenly grabbed his backpack and set off on foot, running in the northern lanes of I-55.
WATCH: Driver Arrested for Ambulance Theft Following Police Chase
There he stopped a red truck towing a trailer and tried to enter the passenger door, but failed. He was then confronted by several officers and a K-9 detachment and detained on the side of the highway near the Streator-Kankakee exit.
The suspect was eventually taken by ambulance to Morris Hospital in Grundi County for evaluation. Accusations are pending
Traffic was stopped in both directions on I-55 for some time after his arrest.
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