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A police pursuit involving a stolen ambulance stolen by a newly-released emergency room patient ended in a rollover crash on a busy road in Westchester, authorities said.
The incident began on Tuesday, Sept. 17 around 3 a.m., when a patient released from an emergency room in Westchester stole an Empress ambulance, according to Captain J. Collins Coyne of the New Rochelle Police Department.
The ambulance was soon found on Lawn Avenue, but drove away from officers, leading them on a chase into Eastchester. There, Eastchester and Scarsdale officers tried stopping it, but it rammed into several police vehicles during the chase, Coyne said.
Soon, Irvington Police officers responded to Broadway (Route 9) in preparation as the chase neared the village.
When the ambulance entered Irvington while traveling south on Broadway, it reached the curve near Dows Lane known as Reeds Hill, and lost control, hitting a utility pole and rolling over before finally coming to a rest, according to Irvington Police.
There, officers took the driver, 41-year-old New Rochelle resident Ernest Burkett, into custody before taking him to Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla for evaluation. He was then discharged with only minor injuries.
Burkett was later charged with:
- First-degree reckless endangerment;
- Second-degree criminal possession of stolen property;
- Second-degree grand larceny;
- Third-degree unlawfully fleeing a police officer;
- Second-degree criminal mischief.
As a result of the crash, Broadway was closed to traffic for a period of time before being eventually reopened in a limited capacity. Utility crews later responded to the scene to make emergency repairs to a damaged pole and wires.
Luckily, no officers or citizens were injured, Coyne said.
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