A man, later identified as Darell Caldwell, 30, led Virginia State Police on a wild chase after he stole an ambulance and caused at least 13 hit-and-run crashes before colliding head on with a parked vehicle in Washington D.C., authorities said. (Virginia State Police)
A man led police on a frenetic chase Saturday after he stole several vehicles including an ambulance while causing at least 13 hit-and-run crashes in the Washington D.C.-area, the Virginia State Police said.
A compilation of traffic cam footage by Twitter user Dave Statter captured much of the chaos, including the suspect weaving in and out of traffic and bulldozing through cars to get away.
MUST SEE: Stolen@ArlingtonVaFD
ambulance being chased into the I-395N express lanes at 4:25 pm. It plowed into multiple cars. That was 45 minutes after the truck smashed up cars in the main lanes. Media DM if interested in the video.@ARLnowDOTcom@TomJackmanWP#395rampage pic.twitter.com/PAgxh3VFge— Dave Statter (@STATter911) August 12, 2023
The incident unfolded around 3:40 p.m. when Virginia State Police responded to a hit-and-run crash in the eastbound lanes of I-66 involving a truck that was stolen out of Falls Church, Va., troopers wrote in a Facebook post. The truck caused another crash a minute later in the northbound lanes of I-395 near Exit 10 in Arlington County.
The suspect, later identified as Darell T. Caldwell, 30, of Brandywine, Md., fled on foot, stole another truck and started driving the wrong way on the George Washington Parkway, which caused a third crash, troopers said.
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An ambulance responded to the scene on the George Washington Parkway, and paramedics got out of the rig to tender aid to one of the drivers. That’s when Caldwell hopped into the ambulance and took off, according to troopers. The medics waved down troopers to tell them Caldwell had stolen the ambulance. When a trooper caught up to the ambulance, Caldwell kept driving and a pursuit was initiated, troopers said.
“At one point, the ambulance stopped in the road. As the trooper was getting out of his patrol car, Caldwell put the ambulance in reverse and rammed the state police vehicle and fled the scene,” troopers wrote.
Troopers continued chasing Caldwell along with the Arlington County Police Department when he entered I-395 express lanes and then went into Washington D.C. where he struck a parked vehicle head-on. Caldwell was then taken into custody without further incident and taken to the hospital for treatment.
“During the course of the pursuit, the stolen ambulance struck multiple vehicles and again rammed the trooper’s patrol car. At this time, state police have accounted for and are investigating 13 hit-and-run crashes committed by the stolen ambulance,” troopers wrote.
While no one suffered serious injuries at least six people were taken to hospitals for evaluation, according to troopers.
Caldwell is has charges pending from local, state, and federal authorities, troopers said.
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