By Brian McCready
New Haven Register
WOODBRIDGE, Conn. — Police arrested a town man late Monday for allegedly stealing a paramedic vehicle while emergency responders were attending to a patient inside a house.
Police Sgt. Frank Cappiello said that at 5:30 p.m., police, a paramedic unit with a Ford Expedition, and an American Medical Response ambulance responded to 3 Bayberry Lane for a medical emergency.
“While treating the patient inside the house, the Ford Expedition paramedic unit that was parked outside was stolen from the driveway,” Cappiello said.
He said that at about 7:15 p.m. state police from Troop A in Southbury had responded to a report of a person causing a disturbance in a store parking lot and had arrested Michael Issaev.
Police said Issaev had the stolen vehicle.
Issaev, 22, of Cedar Acres Road, was charged with vandalizing private property as he had driven over several lawns in Southbury before going to the store parking lot, Cappiello said.
He was then turned over to town police to face charges involving the stolen paramedic unit.
Cappiello said it is unclear why Issaev stole the vehicle.
He said the vehicle is not an ambulance, it is a 2003 Expedition, with AMR graphics, emergency light bar and medical response equipment. He said there was no damage to the ambulance.
“This was a ‘first’ for us here in Woodbridge. It was obviously a bad decision by the arrestee, especially to steal a clearly marked emergency vehicle, but fortunately the AMR vehicle was recovered and was intact, and most importantly, there was no additional impediment to any medical treatment being provided,” Cappiello said.
Early Tuesday, Issaev was taken to Yale-New Haven Hospital for an undisclosed medical treatment, and will be arraigned in Superior Court in New Haven upon his release from the hospital. Issaev was charged with first-degree larceny and held in lieu of $25,000 bail.
Cappiello declined to comment on Issaev’s medical condition, except to say he suffered no injuries when he was driving over the Southbury lawns or during his arrest.
Copyright 2011 Journal Register Co.