Trending Topics

N.Y. fire pickup containing medical gear, computers, radios, SCBAs is stolen, crashed

A Syracuse crew was inside a home treating a patient when AMR employees saw the truck leaving; dispatchers tracked the stolen vehicle by using its GPS

Syrfappstolen.jpg

The crash destroyed the truck and all the equipment in it.

Photo/Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office

James McClendon
syracuse.com

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A Syracuse Fire Department pickup truck stolen early Friday morning was found using the vehicle’s GPS heading onto the New York State Thruway, fire officials said.

The truck was stolen at about 1 a.m. from in front of a residence in the 100 block of North Edwards Avenue in the city’s Eastwood neighborhood, Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Jon Seeber said.

A fire crew was inside the home treating a patient when an American Medical Response ambulance crew noticed the truck was being driven off, Syracuse fire officials said in a news release Friday afternoon.

The crews alerted Onondaga County 911 Center dispatchers of the stolen truck. The truck, stolen by Nathan Kane, 23, of Syracuse, was tracked by GPS heading onto the Thruway, fire officials said.

Kane was seen driving west on the Thruway near Exit 36, which is the Interstate 81 exit, Seeber said. He took that exit, but then drove back onto the Thruway, headed east in the westbound lanes, according to Seeber.

Kane then drove across the median, headed east in the eastbound lanes, Seeber said.

Kane’s location was being tracked by 911 dispatchers using the stolen truck’s GPS and a police helicopter shining a light on the truck, according to Seeber and fire officials.

Using spike strips, deputies deflated the truck’s tires, Seeber said. Kane continued driving east in the damaged truck until he reached the town of Sullivan in Madison County, where the truck hit a median and rolled over several times, he said.

All of the equipment inside and attached to the pickup was completely destroyed and is being considered a “total loss,” fire officials said.

The equipment included a variety of medical and trauma equipment, computers, radios, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBAs) for entering house fires and other firefighting tools.

Kane was taken to St. Joseph’s Health Hospital in Syracuse with minor injuries, Seeber said.

https://twitter.com/syracuseFD/status/1550557420056879104

Kane was charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, fourth-degree possession of stolen property, fleeing from police in a vehicle and unauthorized use of a vehicle, Seeber said.

He was also issued traffic tickets that included reckless operation and unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle.

More charges for Kane are pending, Seeber said.

The sheriff’s office asks anyone with information about this incident to call them at 315-435-3044.

___

©2022 Advance Local Media LLC.

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU