CO Man Arrested after Stealing FD Vehicle During Medical Call

A man who claimed to be having a medical emergency is accused of driving off with a Colorado fire department's emergency vehicle Sunday and leading police on a chase before eventually being apprehended.

The South Adams County Fire Department responded to a 9-1-1 call at about 9 a.m. concerning a 41-year-old man having trouble breathing at a Commerce City business, KDVR-TV reports. When medics reached the scene, they evaluated the patient, who then unexpectedly got into the fire department's Ford F-450 squad response vehicle and sped off.

Police pursued the emergency vehicle and eventually set up stop sticks at an intersection to disable the rig. The man then jumped out of the command vehicle and tried to pull a woman out of a car stopped at the intersection.

That's when police caught up with the man and stopped him from taking off in the second vehicle. The man, identified as Jeremy Brandon Chavez, was arrested and charged with aggravated motor vehicle theft, attempted strong-armed robbery and vehicular eluding, according to KDVR.

No one was injured in the incident, and the department's squad response vehicle sustained light damage, the department stated in an online update.