A 29-year-old man has been taken into custody after he stole an empty ambulance in Cambridge and went on an “erratic” joy ride across the GTA early Sunday morning.At around midnight, a man in the Cambridge Memorial Hospital ambulance parking lot, near 700 Coronation Blvd., hopped into an empty ambulance and took off, according to Waterloo police spokesperson Christopher Goss.“A distracted paramedic, who was not in the ambulance, was in the area,” but did not notice the man, said Goss.The hospital immediately notified Waterloo police of the situation.Later in the night, “an officer driving in the area of Hwy. 401 towards Toronto then located the suspect driving the ambulance erratically, with sirens on,” said Goss.“The officer followed the ambulance, and when it got closer to the Halton region, he notified OPP (Ontario Provincial Police).”After a lengthy pursuit by OPP, officers decided to deploy “a controlled tire deflation device, commonly referred to as a spike belt in the area of Rainbow Valley Road West on Highway 26 and successfully, without incident stopped the stolen ambulance,” police said in a news release.The suspect travelled approximately 190 kilometres through the GTA, before being taken into custody by OPP.The driver, of no fixed address, has since been charged with possession of stolen property, dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, and flight from police.He is being held for bail hearing. According to Goss, the suspect’s motivation for stealing the ambulance is unclear. No injuries or collisions were reported during the pursuit.
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