Impaired Driver Steals Phoenix Fire Ambulance, Slams Into Truck in West Phoenix

A woman showing signs of impairment allegedly climbed into the driver's seat of an unattended Phoenix Fire Department ambulance late Thursday night and drove off, crashing into a pickup truck less than two miles away before fleeing the scene on foot, according to Phoenix police. A man who had just been loaded onto a stretcher for transport was inside the ambulance at the time it was taken.

Phoenix police told Arizona's Family that firefighters had left the ambulance's keys inside while responding to a call near 83rd Avenue and Encanto Boulevard around 11 p.m. Wednesday. The woman got behind the wheel and drove off in the fire department vehicle, according to the outlet's report.

She crashed into a Ford F-150 near 75th Avenue and Osborn Road, per the same account, then fled the crash scene before officers arrived. Investigators later determined the woman showed signs of impairment, and she was taken into custody and booked on charges of DUI and theft of means of transportation. Police have not disclosed whether the crash victim in the pickup truck was seriously hurt.

An Ongoing Investigation Into a Chaotic Night

The investigation remains ongoing, and further details about how the woman gained access to the ambulance, or what happened to the patient who had just been loaded onto the stretcher, have not been released. Under Arizona law, theft of means of transportation is a Class 3 felony that can carry a state prison sentence ranging from 2.5 to 8.75 years for a first offense, according to FindLaw. DUI charges in Arizona are classified as a Class 1 misdemeanor carrying a mandatory minimum jail sentence, which can escalate to 30 days if blood alcohol concentration reaches the “Extreme DUI” threshold, per the Stonewall Institute.

Not the First Time an Unattended Rig Has Been Targeted

This is not the first time a Phoenix Fire ambulance has been driven off by someone other than its crew. In April 2023, a 55-year-old woman stole a Phoenix Fire ambulance outside an emergency room and drove three miles before crashing into five vehicles and a wall near Cave Creek and Cactus roads, according to 12News. In November 2023, a man was arrested after stepping into the driver's seat of a Phoenix Fire ambulance downtown and attempting to drive away while four crew members and a patient were in the rear compartment, with paramedics physically ejecting him before he could escape, as reported by JEMS.

Phoenix Fire is the largest municipal fire service agency in Arizona, employing nearly 1,900 sworn positions and operating its own citywide emergency medical transport fleet, per city meeting minutes cited by the City of Phoenix. Those same minutes note that department ambulances handle thousands of calls per month and have seen an average 20% increase in patient transports per shift in recent years, reflecting the intense, constant deployment of the fleet across Phoenix neighborhoods.

Why Crews Leave Keys in the Ignition

Emergency vehicles left idling with keys inside are a recurring vulnerability nationwide. A security briefing by the Central Florida Intelligence Exchange found that most emergency vehicle thefts occur when rigs are left running at scene calls or hospital bays, since crews often keep engines on to power air conditioning and medical equipment — prompting recommendations for auto-locking transmission interlock systems. Statewide, Arizona ranked 14th among all U.S. states in total annual motor vehicle thefts and 21st in theft rate per 100,000 residents, according to figures summarized by the Litwak Law Group.

Similar incidents have played out elsewhere in recent months. In San Antonio in July, a woman hijacked an active municipal ambulance with two medics and a patient inside and drove nearly 22 miles before police intercepted the vehicle, as Hoodline reported at the time. In Portland this month, a man attempted to commandeer an active ambulance treating a patient, but an EMT snatched the keys from the ignition and physically removed him before he could drive away, according to Hoodline's coverage of that case.

The Phoenix woman has not yet been publicly identified as she awaits further proceedings, and it remains unclear what led her to enter the ambulance in the first place. Police have not released additional details on the condition of the patient who had just been loaded onto the stretcher when the vehicle was taken.