A District resident stole an ambulance in Southeast Washington, DC, on Wednesday as its first responders treated a patient nearby, triggering a police chase in a residential neighborhood, officials said.
The shocking incident is representative of the soaring crime and the District’s bewildered justice system:
- At least 760 carjackings occurred in the first ten months of 2023, police data show.
- Sixty-five percent of those arrested for carjacking are juveniles.
- U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves, who is responsible for prosecuting those D.C. police arrests, prosecuted only 56 percent of those arrested in 2023.
Police arrested Francine Hilton, 46, after officers pursued the ambulance driving around the 3600 block of 22nd Street SE.
Police charged Hilton with theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and fleeing law enforcement.
“No one was injured, and no patients were in the ambulance when it was taken, police said. Another ambulance arrived, and its crew picked up the patient who[m] the first crew had been treating,” NBC4 Washington reported.
Follow Wendell Husebø on “X” @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
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