Man Charged With Stealing Ambulance From Stroger Hospital

UPDATE: 3:43 p.m.

(STMW) -- A man has been charged with stealing a Chicago Fire Department ambulance from Stroger Hospital early Sunday.

William J. Quackenbush, 49, faces one count of possession of a stolen second division vehicle, a Class 1 felony, according to Alexandra Normington, spokeswoman for the Cook County Health & Hospitals System.
About 6:30 a.m., while the CFD paramedic crew was in the back of the ambulance readying the vehicle to come back into service after taking a patient to Stroger Hosptial, at 1969 W. Ogden Ave., someone jumped in the front and started driving, Fire Media Affairs Director Larry Langford said.

Lanford said the stretcher was hanging out the back of the ambulance as it drove away because the crew was still in the process of cleaning the vehicle itself.

For their own safety, the paramedics jumped out of the ambulance and immediately notified Cook County Hospital Police that the vehicle had been stolen, Langford said.

The officers chased the vehicle and recovered it about a block away, Langford said. The driver, who may have been intoxicated, was arrested without incident and no one was injured.

Quackenbush, of the 500 block of North Desplaines, was scheduled for a bond hearing Monday, Normington said.

(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2015. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)