Man steals ambulance from outside Eskenazi Hospital, leads police on chase

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man was arrested Friday morning after stealing an ambulance from outside Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital and leading Indianapolis police on a chase.

Shortly before 7 a.m., the crew of an Indianapolis EMS ambulance parked at the hospital and went inside for a routine health screening, according to Brian Van Bokkelen, media and public affairs manager for IEMS.

When the crew came back out, the ambulance, which is equipped with GPS tracking, was gone.

Officers with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department spotted the ambulance a short time later as it headed south on Paca Street from 10th Street near the hospital, says IMPD.

Police tried to stop the ambulance, but the driver, later identified as 20-year-old James Ford, of Indianapolis, took off and led officers on a chase.

At some point, IMPD says, Ford got out of the ambulance and took off running. He was arrested in the 100 block of East 34th Street, just a few blocks east of Crown Hill Cemetery and about 15 minutes from Eskenazi.

Police were able to recover the ambulance without issue.

Ford faces preliminary charges of theft and resisting law enforcement.