Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN, Texas — Medics followed protocols and will not be disciplined after their ambulances were stolen in two unrelated incidents last month, a Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services investigation concluded.
“They were doing their jobs,” EMS Chief Ernie Rodriguez said. The incidents happened “while the vehicles were running during loading and unloading.”
Rodriguez said the agency is now looking to install devices on each of their 82 ambulances that would prevent someone from driving away in such circumstances.
The first incident happened in early December when a man is accused of walking out of the emergency room at University Medical Center Brackenridge and driving away in an unoccupied ambulance, leading police on a high-speed chase that ended near Killeen.
The second incident happened Christmas Day, when police said a man took an ambulance that had two medics and a patient in the back. The man abandoned the ambulance a short distance later.
Both men were arrested and currently face charges.
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