By Ruth Showalter
WCAV
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — A University of Virginia Medical Center patient was arrested on Interstate 64 early Friday morning after allegedly stealing an ambulance.
UVA Public Information Officer Melissa Fielding says Jay Tilden Gatliff of Woodstock walked out of the hospital around 5 a.m. and climbed into a Greene County Rescue Squad ambulance parked outside the Emergency Room.
Because the keys were in the vehicle and the doors unlocked, Gatliff was able to speed off.
UVA police were notified of the incident minutes later and Virginia State Police and other surrounding law enforcement officers a few minutes after that.
Fielding says police caught up to the ambulance around 5:20 a.m. on I-64 westbound at mile marker 93 in Augusta County.
Gatliff reportedly attempted to get out of the ambulance but was tackled and taken to the ground by police.
He was arrested and charged with grand larceny.
Gatliff has been charged with grand larceny and is being held at the Albemarle/Charlottesville Regional Jail.
Republished with permission from WCAV.com