Patient Steals Ambulance in Atlanta, Takes Paramedics on Wild Ride

In a bizarre instance of role reversal, a patient stole an ambulance in Atlanta Saturday and took two paramedics in the back on a wild ride, authorities said.

The episode began at a hospital and ended when the patient crashed the ambulance into a chiropractor’s office near Decatur and fled on foot, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. He remained at large several hours later.

The two DeKalb County fire paramedics who found themselves trapped inside the stolen vehicle escaped serious injury, the newspaper said.

The unidentified patient took control of the ambulance about 2 p.m. while the paramedics were in the back completing paperwork after having dropped off another patient at Emory University Hospital.

DeKalb fire Battalion Chief Christopher Morrison Jr. said the man “came out of the hospital, dressed in a gown and rubber gloves, jumped in the front seat, locked the doors and took off in the unit.”

The suspect “looked through the little window in the back and told them, ‘be quiet and hold on,'” Morrison said.

He then sped away, traveling several miles before running off the road, knocking down a utility pole and winding up inside a chiropractor’s office.

The ambulance was a total loss and the chiropractic office sustained substantial damage, Morrison said.