A patient stole the ambulance that had taken him to a Manhattan (NYC) hospital yesterday and made a 25-mile joyride while intoxicated before being caught by police.
According to Daily News, 47-year-old patient Matthew Checko had been taken to Mount Sinai Morningside Hospital for evaluation, for an unspecified condition. After he was released he returned to the same ambulance that had transported him, which was parked vacant but with the keys in it near the emergency area. He got on and sped off around 4:50 a.m.
The ambulance was tracked by a GPS device and an alert was issued. State Police (NYSP) tried to stop Checko on I-87 near Exit 9 in Tarrytown, Westchester County, but were unsuccessful.
As Checko headed for the “Mario M. Cuomo” bridge, which connects Westchester and Rockland counties, he ran over stop strips that the state police had put up along the highway, causing the ambulance’s tires to go flat.
Checko, a resident of Washington Heights (Upper Manhattan, NYC), was arrested and charged with grand theft, possession of stolen property, driving while intoxicated and fleeing from a police officer.
All charges are mere accusations and those charged are presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.
In a similar case with a tragic ending, this month José González was found guilty of fatally running over FDNY paramedic Yadira Arroyo while getting behind the wheel of her ambulance in the Bronx in 2017. The sentence will be announced on April 5, which could be life in prison without parole.
Also in the summer of 2021 they took an ambulance that was standing in front of the Mount Sinai West hospital in Hell’s Kitchen, Manhattan. According to police statistics, car theft is one of the criminal offenses that have increased in the city since the pandemic.