By Chris Bolin
Greeley Tribune
GREELEY, Colo. — At 1:50 a.m. Tuesday, Lia Dawn Roth was having a night like any other: Idly scrolling through her phone in bed before falling asleep.
By 2 a.m., the night had been turned completely upside down.
She heard a loud screeching noise and then what sounded like a dog trying to run on a hardwood floor, she said. She jumped up, thinking something may have happened to a family dog — only to look out her window and see a Greeley police truck in her backyard.
It wasn’t until one of her children looked out a different window and saw an ambulance had crashed into a shed in her neighbor’s backyard that she started to understand what happened.
“At that point, I kind of joked, ‘Oh yeah, somebody probably stole it,’ ” Roth said.
Little did she know at the time, she was exactly right.
Joseph Perez, 45, had stolen the UCHealth ambulance from North Colorado Medical Center about 20 minutes earlier, crashing through two fences in Roth’s yard near 17th Avenue and 26th Street, finally coming to a stop after hitting the shed.
At 1:44 a.m., Greeley police responded to a report of a suspicious man — donning no shirt but a hospital bracelet — getting out of an ambulance and entering a convenience store in the 2700 block of 23rd Avenue.
Police arrived at the convenience store as the ambulance was leaving. As they pulled in, dispatch informed them that an ambulance crew had reported their ambulance missing.
UCHealth media relations manager Kelly Tracer said it is standard protocol to leave an ambulance running when on duty to maintain the internal temperature for the sensitive medications and electronics, as well as to power all of the equipment inside. She said it is very rare for an ambulance to be stolen, but that it does happen on occasion.
“Overnight, one of our ambulance crews was inside North Colorado Medical Center while their ambulance was parked outside,” Tracer said. “Someone chose to take advantage of the situation. ... We are grateful that no one was injured and appreciate the assistance from our partners at the Weld County Regional Communications Center and Greeley Police Department .”
Using GPS tracking in the ambulance, police tracked the ambulance to 8th Avenue and 26th Street. They also identified the driver as Perez, confirming he had just been discharged from NCMC.
While fleeing officers, Perez drove over tire deflation devices deployed by officers, which deflated at least one of the ambulance’s tires.
Police followed Perez west on 26th Street through 11th Avenue. When he reached 17th Avenue, he drove through the intersection and into Roth’s yard, according to police. He destroyed parts of two fences in Roth’s backyard, as well as a shed in her neighbor’s yard.
Perez tried to flee on foot, police said, but officers arrested him shortly after in the neighbor’s backyard.
Police estimate Perez caused about $15,000 worth of damage. Perez has a lengthy criminal history, including felony convictions for trespassing in 2021 and assault on a police officer in 2017, according to Colorado Court records.
Records for this arrest are not yet available, but police say he will face charges of felony auto theft and a slew of driving violations — including hit and run.
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