The Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
MILFORD, N.H — Police arrested a Hudson man yesterday morning after they said he stole an ambulance in Manchester, drove it to Milford High School and was later found walking the halls.
Robert Ngari, 25, was charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle, attempted theft, receiving stolen property, impersonating medical personnel and criminal trespassing. As of yesterday afternoon, Ngari was being held in Nashua pending arraignment, said Milford Police Chief Frederick Douglas.
Around 6:47 a.m., a caller from Milford High School reported an ambulance parked in the lot and an African-American man in camouflage pants and a hoodie-style sweatshirt wandering around, going from vehicle to vehicle, Douglas said.
When Milford police arrived a few minutes later, the man was gone but the ambulance was still there. They discovered it was from Rockingham Regional Ambulance and after making a call to the company learned it had been stolen, said Douglas.
Milford Superintendant Bob Suprenant said a school staff member was standing at the entrance to the school around the same time and saw a similar-looking man walk in the door and ask where he should go if he wanted to pick up his school transcript.
Police were notified that the man had entered the school and by the time he had reached the lobby, police had found him, said Douglas.
Douglas said the man identified himself as Ngari and he was taken into custody.
Milford High School starts at 7:20 a.m. and when Ngari was on campus, students would have been arriving for the day, said Suprenant. Both he and Douglas said to their knowledge, none of the students at the school had any interaction with Ngari.
The school doors are secured during the day, but for about 20 minutes in the morning, the doors stay open as hundreds of students file into class. He credited staff members for spotting the suspicious person quickly and alerting police.
“Milford High School is overall a very safe and secure environment,” he said. “This is certainly more of an anomaly than a pattern.”
Chris Stawasz, executive director of Rockingham Regional Ambulance said the company believes the ambulance was stolen around 6:45 a.m. from outside their maintenance facility in downtown Manchester. The ambulance was parked outside, waiting to be serviced and that’s when they think Ngari allegedly took the vehicle. The company reported it stolen Stawasz said, and it was located in about an hour.
“I’ve been here almost 30 years and I’ve never had that happen,” said Stawasz.
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