VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — A man stole an ambulance, flipped it, and then had to be rescued after being trapped inside on Thursday night, according to police
Police say the ambulance, which belongs to the Princess Anne Courthouse Volunteer Rescue Squad, was stolen right outside of Sentara Princess Anne Hospital’s emergency department around 9:45 p.m. after paramedics dropped off a patient.
When the crew came back outside, the ambulance was gone.
The man got about four miles away before he flipped the ambulance in the 2200 block of London Bridge Road. Officers had to help him out of the wreckage after he was trapped. He was taken to a local hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.
Police later charged the man, 27-year-old Theodore E. Gasiorowski, with grand larceny and DUI.
“You can’t just go to an auto store and buy another ambulance. It takes many, many months to get one. It is an impact,” said Nedelka.
Nedelka says the $250,000 ambulance is being evaluated to see if they can salvage any equipment inside.
He says the city’s risk management will do a review to see if the costs for a new one will be covered.
But in the meantime, other Virginia Beach rescue squads will help out.
“We have over 36 operational ambulances so when there’s a mechanical breakdown or something as severe as this, the rescue squads work together and loan out ambulances so there’s no deficit in response services,” said Nedelka.
Gasiorowski has been released on bond.
