Man charged with stealing ambulance in Niles, Illinois, leading police on chase on Tri-State Tollway
A man has been charged with stealing a private ambulance from a Portillo's parking lot in Chicago's northern suburbs while an EMT was still inside, and leading police on a chase along the Tri-State Tollway.
Domanick Barr, 21, has been charged with two counts of aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
Niles police said, shortly before 4 p.m. Tuesday, Barr got into a running private Lifeline ambulance in the parking lot of the Portillo's restaurant at 8832 W. Dempster St., and drove off while a medic was still in the back of the ambulance.
The medic called 911 as Barr drove off, and Illinois State Police located the ambulance as it headed south on the Tri-State Tollway.
The thief was stymied by ongoing roadwork on the tollway, and turned on the ambulance's siren and emergency lights to try to get around the gridlock, but with no shoulder for other vehicles to pull onto, leaving nowhere for other drivers to go, police were able to quickly surround the ambulance at Ogden near Hinsdale.
Barr was arrested at the scene and was taken to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. The medic who was in the ambulance at the time was not harmed.
Court information for Barr was not immediately available.
The video above is from an earlier report.