EMS Van Stolen From Highland Park Senior Center, Driver Caught After Chase to Grand River and Lodge Freeway

A person stole an EMS vehicle parked outside a senior center in Highland Park on Wednesday while the crew that arrived in it was still inside handling a call, according to police. The theft set off a chase through the area that ended several miles away near Grand River Avenue and the Lodge Freeway, where officers stopped the vehicle and took the suspect into custody.

Police said first responders had parked the EMS vehicle near 2nd Avenue and Manchester Parkway, close to the senior center, while they went inside to handle a run. At some point during that call, someone got into the vehicle and drove off without anyone from the crew on board. It's not clear how long the crew was inside before they noticed the vehicle was gone.

Officers picked up the pursuit soon after and followed the vehicle out of Highland Park and into Detroit. The chase ended near the interchange of Grand River Avenue and the Lodge Freeway (M-10), a stretch of road several miles from where the vehicle was taken. Local 4's Skycam captured the moment police boxed in the stolen vehicle and brought it to a stop. The suspect was arrested on the scene without further incident, police said. No one else was inside the EMS vehicle when it was stopped, and police have not said whether the suspect was armed or whether anyone was hurt during the chase.

Police have not released the suspect's name, age or the charges they expect to file. It's also unclear whether the vehicle sustained damage during the pursuit or how long it was out of service as a result.

Highland Park is a roughly two-square-mile city surrounded entirely by Detroit, with its own police department and a population that has shrunk sharply over the past several decades. The city has mutual aid and shared-service agreements with Detroit and Wayne County, including emergency medical response in some cases, so units covering calls in Highland Park can end up crossing into Detroit during an incident.

Ambulance thefts are uncommon but do happen from time to time, typically when a vehicle is left running or unlocked while a crew is attending to a patient. Some fire and EMS agencies keep engines running during calls to power onboard equipment such as refrigerated medication compartments and radios, which can leave a vehicle unattended for short stretches.

Highland Park police did not say whether the vehicle belonged to the city's own department or to a private ambulance service providing coverage there, nor did they specify the nature of the original call the crew was responding to when the vehicle was taken.

The chase took the vehicle out of Highland Park and onto Detroit's west side before it was stopped. The area around Grand River Avenue and the Lodge Freeway, a mix of commercial and residential blocks, saw a heavy police presence during the stop, based on aerial footage from Local 4's Skycam.

No additional details have been released about what led up to the theft, whether the suspect had any connection to the senior center or the EMS crew, or what specifically prompted the initial 911 call that brought the vehicle to the location in the first place.

Police have not announced an arraignment date for the suspect. Highland Park police and Detroit police have not said which agency will handle the prosecution, since the theft and the arrest happened in two different jurisdictions. Anyone with additional information about the incident has been asked to contact Highland Park police.