Three Injured after Empty New Orleans Ambulance Stolen

An empty ambulance was stolen at Touro Infirmary in New Orleans on Thursday afternoon and hit four vehicles on a three-mile trip to Earhart Boulevard.

Authorities said the unattended ambulance was taken from the Touro emergency room ramp and was later found at the intersection of Earhart and Pine Street. Police said they detained a male suspect who "has been taken to the hospital for evaluation."

En route from Touro to Earhart, the ambulance struck a car at Prytania and Marengo streets, a truck at Freret and Valence streets and two other vehicles, including a Police Department unit.

There were no patients in the ambulance at the time of the theft, EMS said. But as a result of the collisions, three people were slightly injured and were taken to a hospital.

On Valence, the ambulance careened up the street at more than 40 mph, said 80-year-old Alex Hulbert, who watched from his porch as it struck a delivery truck parked illegally at the Freret intersection, tearing off a bumper. The ambulance then turned right onto Freret in front of La Ventana, where patrons were blasé.

Hulbert said the ambulance wasn't being pursued by anyone at that point.

"He just came flying up the street," Hulbert said. "Why would someone take an ambulance?'

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