By Heather Civil
Clarion Ledger
Copyright 2007 Clarion Ledger
JACKSON, Miss. — A 29-year-old man faces criminal charges in the theft of an ambulance from a local hospital over the weekend.
William Downing is being held in the Hinds County Detention Center without bond.
No address was provided for Downing.
He is charged with auto theft and felony evasion.
Downing allegedly took the ambulance from the University of Mississippi Medical Center around 5 p.m. Saturday and led officers on a high-speed chase through Jackson and northward into Madison County.
UMC police are handling the investigation and have released no information about the theft.
“I can’t comment on a pending investigation,” UMC spokesman Bruce Coleman said.
The ambulance belongs to American Medical Response Inc., which provides ambulance service in the metro-Jackson area.
AMR spokesman Jim Pollard said he could not discuss details of the theft because it is under investigation.
Police reported the ambulance was taken from UMC and that the driver drove through rain and heavy traffic without turning the vehicle’s headlights on.
Authorities finally stopped the ambulance on I-55 near Gluckstadt by using a Stop Stick to puncture the vehicle’s tires.
There were no reports of injuries.
The Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol, the Madison County Sheriff’s Department and the Jackson Police Department all were involved in the pursuit.
Those agencies all referred questions to UMC police.