An hourslong chase with the 19-year-old driver of a stolen Dallas Fire-Rescue ambulance came to an end Monday afternoon when the ambulance appeared to get stuck and the driver tried to outrun police on foot.
The driver was identified Tuesday by police as 19-year-old Felix Lopez. He faces a second-degree felony charge of theft of property.
Dallas police said the ambulance was taken from Fire Station No. 53 Monday morning and was spotted early in the afternoon in southeast Dallas County.
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The man behind the wheel of the ambulance refused to stop and led police on a chase for nearly two hours that went through Dallas County into Kaufman County before he drove north into Collin County and through the cities of Plano, McKinney and Princeton.
At times the driver intentionally drove into oncoming traffic, but no crashes have been reported in connection with the chase.
It was back in McKinney where the driver tried to again lose the police, sheriff's deputies, and state troopers in a residential neighborhood, often going off-road and across lawns trying to escape.
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The ambulance apparently bottomed out a curb and the driver quickly bailed out and tried to outrun police on foot while also trying to hold up his falling pants.
Moments later the man was cornered in a fenced-in area and was taken into custody by several officers near Joyce Way and Tension Lane.
Officers with the Dallas Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff's Office and Texas State Troopers, and a number of other agencies, assisted in bringing the chase to a close.
An ambulance was taken from the same fire station in February 2020 and was driven to Louisiana.
Ambulance Chase
- At about 1:10 p.m. the chase was underway in southeast Dallas along Interstate 20 near Lawson. The driver was headed toward Kaufman County.
- The drive then turned around in Forney and went back along I-20 to I-635 where he went north to U.S. 75.
- As of about 2:05 p.m., the driver was headed northbound on U.S. 75 toward Plano.
- Just before 2:10 p.m. the driver left the highway and entered a residential neighborhood, driving through back alleys.
- At about 2:11 p.m., the driver avoided several Dallas police officers, Dallas County sheriff's deputies and Texas State Troopers attempting to block the exit from the neighborhood.
- At about 2:18 p.m. the driver got on Texas 121 in McKinney but exited a short time later.
- At about 2:30 p.m. the driver was headed into oncoming traffic on U.S. Highway 380 near Princeton.
- At 2:37 p.m., the driver was headed westbound on U.S. 380.
- At 2:43 p.m., the driver took the ambulance off the road briefly to avoid spike strips -- a retractable device used by police to flatten car tires.
- At 2:55 p.m. the driver got stuck while off-roading in the ambulance and, while also attempting to hold up his pants, tried to escape from the officers on foot. The driver was taken into custody moments later near Joyce Way and Tension Lane.
