UTICA, NY—The stolen ambulance that ended up in Irondequoit Bay near Rochester was stolen Sunday morning while undergoing COVID-19 cleaning in downtown Utica.
Police say a person stole the ambulance and drove it down the Thruway almost to Rochester, then got off the highways and eventually rolled down a boat ramp at the Newport Yacht Club and into the bay.
The driver was picked up by a passing boat and later taken into custody, police said. Police have not released the driver’s name.
The 137-mile saga began about 10:30 a.m. Sunday as Kunkel Ambulance employees were cleaning the ambulance between shifts, said Kunkel spokeswoman Amanda Shells Jennings. The keys were left in the ambulance while a mechanical mister sprayed cleaning solution inside the modified Ford Transit as part of the Kunkel’s COVID-19 protocols, Jennings said.
“They had the ambulance in the bay completing that cleaning and getting ready to move the ambulance,” she said. “Somebody entered into the ambulance bay when the doors were opened and entered the ambulance.”
The bay doors had been left open because other ambulances were coming in and out of the Catherine Street station, Jennings said.
As soon as Kunkel employees saw the ambulance drive away, they switched on the GPS locating device and called police, Jennings said. She said no Kunkel employees were in the ambulance, and the company coordinated with police to track the ambulance during its entire journey.
State police got involved when the ambulance was spotted going through Verona on the Thruway in Oneida County at 10:42 a.m., said Trooper Mark O’Donnell. State police tried to stop the ambulance, but the driver kept going, and troopers called off the chase.
The driver passed through Madison, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca and Ontario counties on the Thruway and ended up in Monroe County. Troopers spotted the ambulance on I-490 near Rochester and again tried to stop the driver, who continued on.
After exiting I-490, the driver eventually turned onto Seneca Drive, down the yacht club boat launch and into the bay, which has an outlet to Lake Ontario.
A video posted on Twitter by Dan Schrack, a reporter for WHAM-TV, in Rochester, shows a large splash as the boxy ambulance hits the water at the end of the launch. As the ambulance bobs in the bay, it slowly turns 90 degrees and the nose begins sinking. A person climbs out of the driver’s door and starts swimming alongside the ambulance. A boater who had seen the crash pulls around to the front of the ambulance as a pair of jet skiers approach from behind. The video ends there.
Police say the woman swam over to a private boat, which picked her up. She was treated and taken into custody, O’Donnell said. Charges are pending.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s dive team and a towing company helped pull the ambulance out of the water, troopers said.
Jennings said she could not say how much the ambulance cost, but assumed it was a total loss. New Ford Transit ambulances are advertised online for $68,000 to $80,000.
She said she’s not aware of a Kunkel ambulance being stolen before.
_____
©2021 Advance Local Media LLC.
Visit syracuse.com.
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
