Re: Man accused of stealing ambulance, leading police on chase

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Man accused of stealing ambulance, leading police on chase

Sara Perkins and Zack Quaintance

November 20, 2007 - 9:04AM

McALLEN — A Pharr man is accused of stealing an ambulance and leading police

on a chase Tuesday morning that resulted in two officers being hospitalized.

Pablo Mireles, 21, had been arrested earlier in the day in connection with an

overnight incident of family violence, according to Pharr police spokesman Lt.

Guadalupe Salinas. But by 7 a.m., police released the man on a personal

recognizance bond after he complained of chest pains. Salinas said an ambulance

took Mireles to Mc Medical Center about 7:15 a.m.

About 45 minutes later the man stole an ambulance parked with its engine idling

in front of the hospital, said Mission Police Chief Leo Longoria.

Mission police officers spotted the man about 8:30 a.m. as he was exiting a home

on the 1400 block of East First Street in Mission and got into the stolen

ambulance, which was parked in front of the house.

Officers chased him along Business 83 and into Mc, with the ambulance

driver ramming the vehicle into a pair of Mission police cruisers during the

pursuit.

Mc police eventually punctured the ambulance’s tires with a spike strip

near the intersection of McColl Road and Business 83. A Mission police cruiser

then pinned the vehicle against a nearby warehouse. The driver started to run

away but police managed to catch him.

“He just didn’t look like he was all there,†said Mc police Sgt.

de la after the chase.

The officers

The identities of the injured Mission police officers were withheld.

Both officers received treatment at a nearby hospital and were released, Mission

police spokesman Lt. Garza said.

The suspect is scheduled to be arraigned today on charges of auto theft, evading

arrest and burglary of a habitation. No charges were expected to be filed in

connection with the officers’ injuries.

There were no accidents reported along Business 83 as a result of the chase,

Garza said. The driver of the stolen ambulance did not operate the vehicle’s

sirens during the pursuit.

Investigators have found no connection between the man and the Mission home from

which officers saw him leaving.

“That subdivision just so happened to be near the expressway,†Garza said.

“There is apparently no connection between the suspect and the house.â€

The vehicles

As for the ambulance, it was unoccupied when it was stolen, said Liza Aramburu,

an employee with Mission-based Preferred Ambulance. The vehicle had taken a

patient to the hospital about 7:45 a.m., she said.

A Mc Medical Center spokeswoman said hospital officials have asked

ambulance drivers to turn off vehicles and remove keys when parking outside the

facility. Aramburu, however, said it’s standard procedure to leave an

ambulance running with the doors locked.

Driver Fullingim said she left the keys and her belongings locked in the

ambulance. However, it later appeared that someone had forced his way into the

vehicle by prying open a back door. Her belongings were still in the ambulance

when she arrived at the scene of the crash.

The vehicle was in fair condition despite colliding with two Mission police

cruisers, a railing and a concrete wall.

“Ambulances are designed to take that beating,†Fullingim said.

The cruisers suffered more damage, though. Both had lost mirrors, and deep

gashes marred the side of one where the ambulance had rammed it.

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Zack Quaintance covers law enforcement and general assignments for The Monitor.

You can reach him at .

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Sara Perkins covers Mission, western Hidalgo County and Starr County for The

Monitor. You can reach her at .