Early on a recent Thursday morning, chaos unfolded on a Tampa freeway when a pick-up truck was found crashed and an ambulance subsequently hijacked. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the incident began when a supervisor with American Medical Response spotted the wrecked truck on the southbound I-75 exit ramp to westbound I-4 around 2 a.m. and went to check for injuries. This supervisor's encounter with the crash site took an unexpected turn as he asked if anyone was okay, only to be confronted by a man who began "throwing himself" at the ambulance window before fighting his way inside and taking off with the vehicle. The supervisor in the process was able to escape by opening the door and fleeing, as reported by CBS News Miami.
The stolen ambulance was involved in another collision, sideswiping a Nissan Altima on the same exit ramp. The suspect continued to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where the Hillsborough County Sheriff's deputies spotted but ultimately lost sight of the ambulance. The reported stolen ambulance was next documented when its in-car camera system indicated it had crashed at 2:09 a.m. and transmitted a photo of the suspect, according to information provided by Patch. The aftermath saw the vehicle abandoned within a fenced-in grass lot at 3720 Martin Luther King Blvd.
The Florida Highway Patrol has confirmed that the suspect appeared to be under the influence during the carjacking and subsequent crash. They are now seeking the public's assistance in identifying the perpetrator who remains at large. Concerned citizens are urged to come forward with any relevant information about the incident or to recognize the suspect and contact FHP at *FHP (*347) or Crime Stoppers at **TIPS (**8477). The public's cooperation is critical in apprehending the individual responsible for this string of dangerous events on the Tampa roadways.
