By Kathleen Brady Shea and Sam Wood
The Philadelphia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — A Philadelphia man attracted lots of ambulance chasers yesterday — law enforcers, not lawyers — and they got an assist from technology.
Police received a report about 8:30 a.m. that an ambulance had been stolen from a kidney dialysis center in the 5900 block of North Broad Street in North Philadelphia.
Cory E. Chambers, 26, helped himself to a vehicle that was parked outside the facility with the engine running, police said. He then began a circuitous, rush-hour joyride around the city — but Philadelphia police were able to track his every move.
In addition to an internal GPS system in the ambulance that enabled police to monitor Chambers’ route, state Department of Transportation traffic cams captured images of him as he headed west on the Schuylkill Expressway, police said.
State police on highway patrol spotted the ambulance shortly before 9 a.m. near the Montgomery Avenue exit and tried to pull it over, said Trooper Danea Durham, a state police spokeswoman.
Chambers, his stolen vehicle surrounded by police cars, refused to stop, Durham said, and troopers pursued it as it neared City Avenue.
“It was a slow-speed chase,” said Durham. “We’re talking about rush hour on I-76, and we all know how that is.”
Police threw a spike strip in front of the ambulance, and it stopped on the highway near City Avenue, with at least one flat tire. Chambers surrendered without incident, but refused to give his name, Durham said.
Once again, technology intervened. Police were able to identify Chambers through fingerprints, said State Police Cpl. Gregory Broaddus.
The police have used internal GPS systems before to track stolen vehicles, Broaddus said. He wishes such systems were standard equipment: “It would be a sad day for car thieves.”
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