Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
Did the headline catch your eye? Sounds pretty interesting, right? We all assume good journalists covering such a story would fully develop the facts before they print headlines like that, right?
What happened in Chicago on Saturday was initially reported as the malicious theft of an ambulance while paramedics were in the back treating a patient. The story was made juicier by the fact that the thief had a lengthy criminal record, a “perp photo” released by police made him look like a stereotypical criminal, and a CFD ladder truck was able to heroically block the street to prevent the criminal from absconding with the ambulance.
The truth about what happened …. not as juicy. No… Just the same kind of poor judgment and bad decisionmaking that keeps firefighters (and lawyers) busy 24/7…365 days a year.
On Saturday, October 9, 2010 at about 11:30 am, while EMS personnel attended to a relative with a diabetic condition, 27-year-old Jimmy McCoy grew concerned about the length of time the ambulance was parked in the street. He decided to get involved by driving the ambulance to the hospital himself while the paramedics worked on his relative. Unfortunately for him, he did not inform the paramedics about what he was doing. In the ensuing moments he was arrested and sent to jail on $50,000 bond, charged with felony possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
