Man, 79, drives off in ambulance

Thursday, Aug. 14, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

A 79-year-old man who said he was tired of waiting to be treated at Valley Hospital was charged Wednesday night with stealing an ambulance and leading Metro Police on a slow chase until he ran into the back of van, police said.

Carl Powless was booked into the Clark County Detention Center on charges of grand larceny and battery with a deadly weapon, police said.

Police said the man, who is homeless, had complained that he had waited at the hospital for about eight hours before he drove off in the ambulance.

The chase began about 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday. It ended less than half an hour later after the ambulance rear-ended a white van at Las Vegas Boulevard North and Lake Mead Boulevard, police said.

The driver of the van, Pat Guidray, said: "I just thought, 'Well, I'll be damned. I just got hit by an ambulance."'

Guidray, a jazz musician from New Orleans, was not injured. The damage to the two vehicles appeared to be minimal.

The ambulance had been parked at an emergency entrance to the hospital while a medical crew dropped off a patient. The keys were left in it and the man climbed into the driver's seat and drove away, Metro Police Lt. Chris Hoye said.

"I guess he wasn't pleased with the service or something," Hoye said.

The ambulance has an automatic vehicle locator that allowed police to track it, Southwest Ambulance spokeswoman Cathy Hayes said.

Metro Police began following the ambulance as it headed north on H Street to Owens Avenue traveling about 45 mph, Hayes said. Then it went north on D Street with officers trailing it. At times the ambulance slowed to 20 mph.

After the ambulance struck the van, officers surrounded it, broke the driver's side window and took Powless into custody.

The man was very calm, Hoye said.

While he sat in the back of the patrol car, he appeared to be nodding off.

A Metro officer was treated for scratches and cuts from the broken glass but there were no serious injuries, Hoye said.

The investigation into the incident is continuing and more charges could be filed, Hoye said.