Alex Mann
The Capital, Annapolis, Md.
ANNAPOLIS, Md. — An Annapolis woman faces felony charges after a mad scramble Saturday involving the theft of two vehicles, an Anne Arundel County ambulance and a taxi, and fleeing the scene of a crash that sent a man to shock trauma, police and court records show.
Brandy Lynn Taylor, 23, allegedly walked into the West Annapolis Fire Station on Jennifer Road around noon Saturday, hopped into an ambulance and drove away, according to charging documents.
Taylor, of Newtowne Drive, has been charged with two counts of stealing a motor vehicle and one count of theft of more than $100,000, online court records show. She was released on her own recognizance Sunday. Taylor does not have an attorney listed in court records.
The stolen ambulance was involved in a crash with a van about 10 minutes later near the intersection of Bywater and Forest drives, police wrote in charging documents. The van driver was flown to shock trauma in serious condition and Taylor was seen hopping out of the driver’s seat and walking toward a nearby Safeway.
In the parking lot, a 39-year-old taxi cab driver and his fare stopped to check out the crash, according to an Annapolis police report obtained by The Capital. He left the keys in the cab, just as they were in the ambulance. He told police he looked back moments later and the 2002 Mercury Grand Marquee was gone.
When the women allegedly entered the fire station, a firefighter saw her enter the bay and hop in the ambulance. Fire officials said he couldn’t stop her and court records show he flagged his supervisor to ask if the woman he’d just seen drive off was a volunteer with the department. Taylor was not.
The station is staffed by career and volunteer personnel and both categories of employees were present that day, said Capt. Russ Davies, a spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County Fire Department.
It’s common for fire personnel to leave the keys in emergency vehicles, but the bay doors are usually secured unless people are working there, Davies said. That day, there was training in the area and people were around when the woman walked in.
At the scene of the crash, the ambulance and the van were pictured on the median with a host of firefighters and paramedics around. The ambulance’s front end was crumpled.
The man who was driving the van was seriously injured. He was flown to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore with serious but not life-threatening injures.
Authorities estimated the ambulance was worth $165,000, according to charging documents.
It’s still unclear whether it was totaled, though Davies said the vehicle was nearing the end of its five- to seven-year lifespan as a “front-line unit,” meaning it soon would’ve been retired to a backup role.
Anne Arundel County police found the taxi vehicle with the Batman logo on the hood and some of the driver’s things at one residence in Glen Burnie near Baltimore Washington Medical Center. More of his belongings at another residence about one mile away.
The only thing missing, according to the police report, was $80 in cash.
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©2020 The Capital (Annapolis, Md.)