An hour-long chase with the driver of a stolen Dallas fire ambulance came to an end Monday afternoon when the ambulance appeared to stall and the driver tried to outrun police on foot.
Dallas police said the ambulance was pulled from Fire Station No. 53 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 police in a chase for nearly two hours that traversed Dallas County north to Collin County and the cities of Plano, McKinney and Princeton.
At times, the driver was intentionally driving into oncoming traffic, but no crashes have been reported in connection with the pursuit.
It was in McKinney that the driver again tried to lose police, sheriff’s deputies and state troopers in a residential neighborhood, often hitting the road and across the lawn trying to escape.
The ambulance apparently bottomed out on a sidewalk and the driver quickly escaped and tried to outrun police on foot while trying to hold up his sagging pants.
Moments later, the man was cornered in a fenced-in area and was detained by several officers near Joyce Way and Tension Lane.
Officers from the Dallas Police Department, the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office and the Texas State Police, and several other agencies, helped end the persecution.
Ambulance chase
- At approximately 1:10 p.m., the chase was underway in southeast Dallas along Interstate 20 near Lawson. The driver was heading toward Kaufman County.
- The road then turned around Forney and returned on I-20 to I-635, where it headed north to US 75.
- At approximately 2:05 p.m., the driver was heading north on US 75 toward Plano.
- Just before 2:10 p.m., the driver pulled off the highway and into a residential neighborhood, driving down back alleys.
- At approximately 2:11 p.m., the driver avoided several Dallas police officers, Dallas County Sheriff’s deputies, and Texas State Troopers attempting to block the exit from the neighborhood.
- At approximately 2:18 p.m., the driver got on Texas 121 in McKinney but exited shortly thereafter.
- At approximately 2:30 p.m., the driver was heading into oncoming traffic on US Highway 380 near Princeton.
- At 2:37 p.m., the driver was heading west on US 380.
- At 2:43 p.m., the driver pulled the ambulance off the road briefly to avoid the spike strips, a retractable device used by police to flatten car tires.
- At 2:55 pm the driver got stuck while riding in the ambulance and, while trying to pull up his pants, tried to escape the officers on foot. The driver was detained moments later near Joyce Way and Tension Lane.