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A Maryland man, Darell T. Caldwell, was arrested after committing multiple hit-and-run crashes in a stolen ambulance and truck on Virginia highways. No serious injuries were reported. Caldwell was charged by federal and local law enforcement, with state police charges still pending. He was apprehended in Washington, D.C. after a pursuit that ended in a collision with a parked car. One of the victims expressed gratitude for surviving the incident and hoped for justice to be served. Associated Press reported
A man from Maryland was responsible for more than a dozen hit-and-run incidents using a stolen ambulance and a stolen truck on various major highways in northern Virginia over the weekend. Eventually, he was apprehended in the District of Columbia. Fortunately, there were no reports of serious injuries resulting from the crashes that occurred on sections of Interstate 66, I-395, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway.
The driver, identified as 30-year-old Darell T. Caldwell from Brandywine, Maryland, has been charged by federal and local law enforcement authorities. However, charges from the state police are still pending. Caldwell is currently undergoing evaluation at a hospital as of Saturday evening.
The series of accidents began after 3:30 p.m., when state police responded to a two-vehicle crash on the eastbound lanes of I-66. Caldwell was identified as the driver of one of the vehicles, a stolen truck from Virginia. Shortly after, the same truck caused a multi-vehicle crash on the northbound lanes of I-395, resulting in five individuals being sent to the hospital.
Caldwell abandoned the truck and fled on foot. Minutes later, state police responded to another crash on the Parkway, involving Caldwell driving another stolen truck in the wrong direction, which collided with another car. It remains unclear how Caldwell acquired the second truck. While an ambulance from Arlington County was attending to the I-395 crash, Caldwell took advantage of the situation and drove off in the ambulance.
A trooper, alerted to the stolen ambulance, initiated a pursuit and eventually caught up to the emergency vehicle. At one point, the ambulance stopped in the road, only to ram the trooper’s patrol car while the trooper was exiting. Both state and Arlington county police joined the pursuit, which led the stolen ambulance to enter the I-395 express lanes and travel into Washington, D.C. The chase concluded when the ambulance collided with a parked car. Caldwell was then apprehended without incident.
One of the victims, Hailey Ruggiero, recounted her experience of being rear-ended by the stolen ambulance near Reagan National Airport. She expressed surprise that neither the ambulance nor the pursuing officer stopped after the collision. Ruggiero expressed her gratitude for being alive and hopes that justice will be served for all those affected by the incident..
