No injuries were reported when an occupied ambulance was hijacked in Austin on Christmas day.
Two Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services (ATCEMS) medics were working on a patient in the back of their rig outside the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless around 4 p.m. when someone jumped in stole the ambulance.
Medics contacted their dispatch and provided updates as the unknown person drove the rig, KXAN reported.
The person pulled over and fled on foot and Austin police are searching for the suspect.
This is the second time an ATCEMS ambulance has been stolen this month.
David Oliver III, 43, was arrested by police who chased the ambulance after it was stolen as a crew unloaded a patient at University Medical Center Brackenridge on Dec. 3.
“It’s certainly a surprising event and especially to have two in a month,” ATCEMS Capt. Rick Rutledge told the television station.
He said they are looking at locking options for the ambulances and considering new policies to prevent future thefts.
“There’s a lot of discussion over this call because it is so unusual and we’ll look for ways, kind of back-testing, to see if there’s anything we can do to prevent this."
