Maryland Man Leads Virginia Police on Wild Chase in Stolen Truck and Ambulance Before DC Arrest

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — A Maryland man dedicated over a dozen hit-and-run crashes in a stolen ambulance alone along with driving a stolen truck on a number of main northern Virginia highways this weekend earlier than being taken into custody within the District of Columbia, authorities stated.

Virginia State Police stated there have been no reviews of significant accidents in Saturday’s crashes on parts of Interstate 66, I-395 and the George Washington Memorial Parkway.

In line with the state police information launch, the motive force, recognized as Darell T. Caldwell, 30, of Brandywine, Md., was charged by federal and native regulation enforcement. State police expenses had been nonetheless pending. Caldwell was being evaluated at a hospital Saturday night.

The string of accidents started shortly after 3:30 p.m., when state police responded to a two-vehicle crash within the eastbound lanes of I-66. Caldwell was recognized as the motive force of one of many autos — a truck that had been reported stolen in Virginia, police stated.

The truck left the scene, and virtually instantly thereafter police responded to a multi-vehicle crash within the northbound lanes of I-395 attributable to the identical truck, main 5 folks to be despatched to the hospital.

In line with police, Caldwell left on foot, and minutes later state police responded to a crash on the Parkway involving one other truck that he was driving the fallacious approach and which hit one other automotive. It wasn’t clear how Caldwell acquired the second truck. When an Arlington County ambulance responding to the I-395 crash additionally stopped on the Parkway accident, Caldwell drove off in it as medics handled one other driver, the information launch stated.

A trooper, alerted to the stolen ambulance, started a pursuit and caught as much as the emergency automobile. At one level, the ambulance stopped within the street, solely to ram the trooper’s patrol automotive when the trooper was getting out. State and Arlington county police pursued the ambulance, which finally obtained on the I-395 categorical lanes and entered Washington earlier than putting a parked automotive. Caldwell was taken into custody with out incident, the information launch stated.

Hailey Ruggiero was driving close to Reagan Nationwide Airport when she was rear-ended by the ambulance, WUSA-TV reported. Ruggiero was shocked when neither the ambulance nor the officer following behind it stopped.

“I’m grateful to be alive proper now. I simply hope that justice is served for all of us that had been affected,” she stated.

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