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Ambulance Stolen From Hospital: Suspect Caught On Tappan Zee Bridge In Westchester, Police Say

A drunk driver faces several charges after allegedly stealing an ambulance from a hospital and using it to lead police on a chase throughout Westchester that finally ended on the Tappan Zee Bridge, police said. 

A stolen ambulance was finally stopped on the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown after a police chase.

A stolen ambulance was finally stopped on the Tappan Zee Bridge in Tarrytown after a police chase.

Photo Credit: Google Maps street view/Pixabay via Chris Diller

The incident started on Thursday, March 30 around 5:40 a.m., when state police troopers were notified of a Mount Sinai ambulance that had been stolen from St. Luke’s Morningside Hospital in New York City. 

Police soon learned that the ambulance was being tracked by GPS by the New York City Fire Department, who said that it was driving northbound on Interstate 87 by mile marker 7 in the town of Greenburgh, according to state police. 

Soon after this, troopers saw the ambulance traveling north by Exit 9 in Tarrytown and tried to pull it over. However, it kept going, and a slow-speed chase began. 

Eventually, a tire deflation device was used to disable the ambulance on the Tappan Zee Bridge. The driver, 47-year-old Matthew Chacko of the Bronx, was then taken into custody without any further incident. He is charged with the following: 

  • Third-degree grand larceny;
  • Third-degree criminal possession of stolen property;
  • Third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer in a motor vehicle; 
  • Second-degree obstructing governmental administration; 
  • Driving while intoxicated;
  • Driving while ability impaired by drugs.

Chacko was arraigned in the Village of Tarrytown Court on Thursday. 

Police are still investigating the incident. 

The new Tappan Zee Bridge's official name is the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge. The old bridge's official name was the Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge. 

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