Police chase stolen CFD ambulance 80 miles downstate and arrest driver

A man stole a Chicago Fire Department ambulance Monday afternoon in Chinatown and led police on an 80-mile chase downstate before he was arrested, police said.

He entered the ambulance as it sat empty, parked on the street outside a fire station in the 200 block of West Cermak Road around 4:40 p.m., Chicago police said.

Officers pursued the ambulance down Interstate 55 as the driver sped away in excess of 70 mph. About two hours later, a tire on the ambulance blew out and the driver tried to run away at IL-17, near downstate Dwight, but was arrested after a short foot chase.

The arrest was captured by a CBS Chicago news helicopter.

No charges have been announced.

In a statement, the Chicago Fire Department said it was thankful for the police agencies that helped “secure the ambulance and get the young man the help he needs without serious injury to himself or members of the public.”

CFD said it started an internal investigation and will take steps to prevent similar ambulance thefts in the future. CFD did not say if the ambulance was left running or unlocked.

In October, a woman stole a CFD ambulance from a Humboldt Park Health hospital and struck a bicyclist and a car.

In August 2020, a woman stole a private ambulance left unlocked and running outside a South Loop nursing home. She was arrested 45 minutes later in Lake View.

In June that year, a man stole an ambulance in the Austin neighborhood while CFD paramedics loaded a patient into the back. He was arrested a block away.