FORT PIERCE, Fla. — An ambulance driver was forced to abandon his vehicle after the patient he was transporting threatened him, Fort Pierce police said.
Police were called to a report of an ambulance driver being attacked in front of Rotary Park shortly after 1 a.m. Tuesday.
When officers arrived, they found Salazar Contreras inside the ambulance refusing to come out, police said.
Police said driver Charles Thurston III had picked up Contreras from Lawnwood Regional Medical Center to take him to a substance abuse treatment center. But, police said, Contreras began shouting at Thurston, spit on him and demanded to be let out.
So Thurston got out, walked across the street and called police.
Police said officers had to use pepper spray and deploy their Taser guns to subdue Contreras and take him into custody.
Contreras told one of the officers he didn’t like black people and didn’t understand why he had to be driven around by a black man, police said.
“Blacks are here to stay,” resident Veronica Hanby said after learning of Contreras’ arrest. “I don’t think they’re going anywhere, so he’s just going to have to deal with it,” resident Veronica Hanby said.