A Maryland man, Darell T. Caldwell, was arrested after committing over a dozen hit-and-run crashes in a stolen ambulance and a stolen truck in northern Virginia. The crashes occurred on Interstate 66, I-395, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway. Luckily, there were no serious injuries reported. Caldwell was charged by federal and local law enforcement and was being evaluated at a hospital. The string of accidents began when Caldwell was involved in a two-vehicle crash and then caused a multi-vehicle crash before stealing an ambulance and ramming a trooper’s patrol car. Associated Press reported
A man from Maryland was involved in over a dozen hit-and-run incidents while driving a stolen ambulance and a stolen truck on major highways in northern Virginia. Eventually, he was apprehended in the District of Columbia. The Virginia State Police reported that there were no serious injuries resulting from the crashes that occurred on Interstate 66, I-395, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway on Saturday.
The driver, identified as Darell T. Caldwell, a 30-year-old from Brandywine, Maryland, has been charged by federal and local law enforcement. State police charges are still pending, and Caldwell is currently undergoing evaluation at a hospital.
The series of accidents began when state police responded to a two-vehicle crash on the eastbound lanes of I-66, where Caldwell was identified as the driver of a stolen truck. Shortly after, the same truck caused a multi-vehicle crash on the northbound lanes of I-395, resulting in five people being sent to the hospital. Caldwell fled the scene on foot and was involved in another crash on the Parkway, driving a second stolen truck in the wrong direction and colliding with another car. The circumstances surrounding how Caldwell obtained the second truck remain unclear. As emergency medics attended to a driver involved in the I-395 crash, Caldwell took advantage and drove off in an Arlington County ambulance that had stopped at the scene.
Upon being alerted about the stolen ambulance, a trooper initiated a pursuit and eventually caught up to the vehicle. The ambulance momentarily stopped in the road but then rammed into the trooper’s patrol car as the trooper was exiting. Both state and Arlington county police joined in the pursuit, which ended when the ambulance entered the I-395 express lanes and struck a parked car in Washington. Caldwell was arrested without any resistance.
One of the victims involved in the collisions, Hailey Ruggiero, recounted being rear-ended by the stolen ambulance near Reagan National Airport. She expressed her gratitude for surviving the incident but hopes that justice will be served for all those affected..
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