Man fled in stolen ambulance before trying to saddle two horses and stealing two cars

Police in Boaz, Alabama, say a man injured in a wreck stole an ambulance after being transported to the emergency room. The initial wreck happened on Friday in Sardis. Investigators say the man, 24-year-old Matthew Todd of Boaz, was intoxicated at the time of the crash.

Authorities said Todd convinced the staff to go outside for a smoke break but ditched the cigarette and just made a break for it in an ambulance that was already running. "He got the ambulance stuck at the end of Bernard Street and after that, he entered a barn and a connected pasture and tried to saddle two horses," said Boaz Police Chief Todd Adams. When that failed, he stole an SUV and crashed and totalled it. He found a second vehicle, stole it and drove home.



Boaz Police found the ambulance on Bernard Street in Boaz the next morning. On Saturday, Todd returned to the ER for treatment from the wounds he suffered from the initial crash.  "And that's when the ER staff and medics called us and said that's the guy that stole our ambulance," said Adams. In a statement in regard to possible policy changes, Marshall Medical Center South said because they didn't believe Todd was a threat to himself or others, they won't review the procedures.

However, AMED Ambulance Service said they will review their policies. In a statement, they admitted they never imagined anyone taking off in one of their ambulances, and they don't plan on it happening again. Todd is in the Marshall County Jail on a $7500 bond for his series of get-away attempts, charged with two counts of auto theft and one count of burglary. Charges are also pending against him for the initial crash that put him in the hospital.

With news video.