Naked man crashes stolen ambulance into Portuguese Cultural Centre in Winnipeg

A naked man driving a stolen ambulance crashed into a Winnipeg cultural centre on Friday morning, a witness says, narrowly missing some people outside the building.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service Chief John Lane said the incident began around 8:30 a.m. Paramedicsen route to another stationhappened upon someone who was "clearly in need of assistance"inthe area of Notre Dame Avenue and Furby Street,Lane said.

He said he couldn't elaborate on why the man needed help, because doing so wouldviolatethe man's privacy.

When the paramedics stopped to try to help the man, though, hebegan threatening them, Lane said at a Friday news conference.

"It deteriorated within 70 secondsof them encountering this individual on the street," Lane said.

"He acted in a very aggressive, violent manner," said Winnipeg police Const. Rob Carver.

Paramedics notified police of the emergency, but the man ran past them and jumped into the ambulance, and then drove off.

Shortly after, he crashed into the Portuguese Cultural Centre on Notre Dame.

Cortney Creasy saw it all unfold from her office at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2085 training centre, right next door to the crash site. After it happened, she said she saw the man leave with some items he apparently took from the vehicle.

"He jumped out of the ambulance and acted like nothing happened. The airbags had gone off and everything.He was completely nude. Nothing on," she said.

Creasy said she ran into the office, locking the door behind her.

"It was shocked and I was scared. I knew right then and there that I needed to get away from him and just hide."

Dean Jorgensen works for Boretta Construction, a company that's building an office rightnext door.

He says he was nearly hit by the ambulance driving erratically down Notre Dame Avenue, going the wrong way.

"We were wondering, 'what the hell,'" he said.

"He cameright at us, so we jumped over onto the sidewalk."

The vehicle was recoveredand a man has been taken intocustody, police said.

Lane says the incident will be reviewed internally, but from his perspective, the attending paramedics didn't do anything wrong.

"We're very grateful that none of our crews, none of the public, apart from the individual in question, suffered any physical injury in this incident. Of course our crews are quite shaken," he said.

Lane said it's too early to say if the incident is related to drug use, but he also can't divulge that information for privacy reasons.

Other emergency vehicles stolen

This isn't the first time an emergency vehicle has been stolen in or near Winnipeg.

Last November, a fire truck was stolen and driven throughout the downtown.

The truck was stolen inWinnipeg's East Kildonan neighbourhood, and then driven towardthe city's downtown, where it swerved toward people as it droveacross the grass atCentral Park, before it was finally stopped on Assiniboine Avenue underneath the Midtown Bridge.

Last July, two menstole a Winnipegpolice cruiser, which still had its key in the ignition, at a gas bar in Headingley.

The two men were arrested separately after a wild, high-speed pursuit that spanned more than 100 kilometres and involved numerous police vehicles.

And in2017, a Winnipeg fire truck was stolen as a crew was helping a patient downtown.

Policerecovered the truck within minutes at Portage Avenue andSherbrookStreet. In that case, there was no damage to the vehicle.

Naked man crashes stolen ambulance into building

4 years ago

Duration 2:07

A naked man driving a stolen ambulance crashed into a Winnipeg cultural centre on Friday morning, a witness says, narrowly missing some people outside the building.