Memorial bike riders' vehicles broken into in Md.
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By Amanda Codispoti
Roanoke Times
Copyright 2008 Roanoke Times
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ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Two marked paramedic vehicles supporting the National Emergency Medical Services Bike Ride that's headed to Roanoke were broken into and stripped of electronics while parked outside an Annapolis, Md.-area hotel.
The service vehicles are part of an annual weeklong ride that started in New York on Saturday and will arrive in Roanoke on Friday.
The cyclists are riding in honor of EMS workers who have died while serving.
They and their support staff checked into a Sheraton hotel Monday night after a service at the Maryland Fire and Rescue Memorial in Annapolis.
They noticed early this morning that windows on two of the vehicles had been broken and GPS devices and a digital camera had been taken, said Susan Erwin, director of the ride. There was also damage to some equipment in one vehicle.
One of the vehicles involved was from Blacksburg, Erwin said.
Despite the break-ins and the thefts, the ride resumed, two and a half hours late.
"We're going to get there," said Jennifer Frenette, an emergency services technician from New Hampshire. "We're adapting and overcoming. That's what we do."
Tuesday, the riders made their way through rain to Washington, D.C., where they lobbied for line-of-duty death benefits for EMS workers who volunteer or work for private medical services.
The riders will arrive in Salem on Friday about 5 p.m. From there they'll be escorted to the Hotel Roanoke, where they are expected at 6 p.m.
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