Ambulance Thief Can't Resist The Siren Call Of Jack In The Box Drive-Thru
I love when vehicles get trapped in drive-thrus. I love it. Maybe because of the sheer awkwardness of the whole thing; like, if you see a large vehicle stuck in a drive-thru, you know you have at least five minutes of tiny turns and shameful reversing to look forward to. But what happens when a drive-thru becomes a trap... for a criminal? That's exactly what took place in Houston last week when an area man stole an ambulance, then tried to drive it through a Jack In The Box drive-thru with the emergency lights on.
Southwest patrol and CST officers just recovered a stolen ambulance S. Post Oak and W. Orem. Paramedics were on a call when male jumped in and drove off. Officers tracked the ambulance to a fast food outlet where the driver was at the drive up ordering food with emergency lights. pic.twitter.com/iQdyh6y5De
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) January 22, 2021
According to a tweet from Houston police, the man was arrested last Thursday after attempting to casually cruise through a drive-thru line with the ambulance's emergency lights on. Local news station KHOU reported that Renaldo Dechaume Leonard, 36, jumped in and drove off in the ambulance while paramedics were on a call at an apartment complex near the restaurant. He didn't get very far, presumably because of an unshakeable craving for a Jumbo Jack.
The Houston Chronicle reported that the perpetrator was taken into custody without incident and charged with felony theft. The detail about the emergency lights kills me; after all, Leonard probably would've been caught with or without the lights, but they sure do make the scene a whole lot flashier. There's a lesson to be learned here, and it is this: make sure you fully flee the scene of the crime before stopping for fast food. I'll certainly keep that in mind.