In this update to an alleged ambulance theft, EMS1 Editor-in-Chief Greg was interviewed on his expertise covering emergency medical services news. Check out more of his writing here.
By EMS1 Staff
MOBILE, Ala. — An Alabama judge set bond at $22,000 for Leemichael Gerard Lyman after he was charged with allegedly stealing an ambulance.
Lyman, 26, led police on a chase after taking an idle Mobile County Fire-Rescue ambulance with the keys in the ignition, Fox 10 reports. Lyman is also charged with criminal mischief and attempting to elude police.
Steven Millhouse, spokesperson for Mobile Fire-Rescue Department, said the paramedics who were inside the hospital when Lyman took the ambulance, did not deviate from procedures.
The incident is still under investigation, Millhouse added.
This is not the first time an ambulance was stolen from the department. In the last two months, three vehicles have been taken or have had a close call. In 2017, the ambulances were equipped with anti-theft devices because one ambulance was stolen under similar circumstances.
EMS1.com Editor-in-Chief Greg Friese said in an interview with Fox 10 that emergency vehicle thefts tend to be a crime of opportunity and not an abnormal scenario.
“Typically, my read of these incidents when they happen is that it’s a crime of opportunity and that it’s just a confluence of ambulance that’s running and unlocked and then somebody that’s looking to steal it; that it’s sort of the wrong person and the wrong time,” Freise said.