The Associated Press
SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash. — A man apparently on a joyride drove off with a emergency medical vehicle as its crew was outside helping an elderly woman, then led authorities on a 52-mile chase before getting stuck in a muddy field, officials said.
When asked why he took the vehicle, clearly marked for emergency medical use, he said just because it was there, investigators said.
Jesse Matthew Vasquez, 26, of Moses Lake, was jailed for investigation of felonies in Washington state and Idaho, Spokane County sheriff’s Cpl. Dale Toliver said.
The chase began about 6 p.m. Thursday after a paramedic and an emergency medical technician left the engine running so the flashing lights would not drain the battery while they attended to the unconscious woman.
Sheriff’s deputies and state troopers used a satellite tracking system built into the onboard computer to track the vehicle as it crossed into Idaho.
By the time it ran off the highway and into a muddy field about 45 miles south of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, nearly 12 law enforcement officers were in pursuit.
Vasquez was uninjured, but deputies had to break the driver’s side window to remove him, Toliver said.