Maryland man steals ambulance at Arlington crash, leaving trail of hit-and-runs 

A Maryland man stole an ambulance and left a trail of hit-and-runs on Saturday after he caused numerous crashes in a stolen vehicle earlier that afternoon.

Virginia State Police said Darell T. Caldwell, 30, was driving a stolen truck when he caused a two-vehicle crash on the eastbound lanes of I-66 and fled the scene. Just one minute after they responded to the first crash, police responded to a separate multi-vehicle crash in the northbound lanes of I-395 in Arlington County caused by the same stolen truck.

The state police said that Caldwell fled the second crash site on foot.

Just minutes later, the Virginia State Police said they received reports of a third crash caused by Caldwell, who was now driving a separate truck. An Arlington County Fire Department ambulance — on its way to responding to the I-395 crash — stopped to tend to the drivers of the third crash, but police said Caldwell stole the ambulance and drove away in it once the medics got out.

Police said they engaged in a pursuit after Caldwell refused to stop the ambulance. Once the ambulance came to a stop in the road and an officer got out of the patrol car, Caldwell put the ambulance in reverse, slamming the patrol car before fleeing the scene again.

Caldwell was eventually taken into custody after he entered Washington D.C. and struck a parked vehicle at 14th Street NW and D Street NW.

During the pursuit of the ambulance, Caldwell struck multiple vehicles. Virginia State Police said they have accounted for and are investigating 13 hit-and-run crashes committed by the stolen ambulance and urged the public to report any other incidents.

There have been no reports of serious injuries due to the numerous hit-and-runs, police said. The police update also noted that Caldwell has been charged with local and federal charges, but state charges are pending.