A 27-year-old Savannah man who stole an ambulance Friday evening after attacking an off-duty Chatham County Sheriff’s deputy at St. Joseph’s Hospital was charged with three felonies.
Melvin Williams III was charged with theft by taking, removal of a firearm from a public official and resisting arrest for a felony offense after he led unmarked police cars and a Savannah-Chatham police helicopter on a low-speed chase through Savannah, Garden City and Port Wentworth for about an hour and a half. He was also charged with driving on the wrong side of the road.
Williams was initially transported to the southside Savannah hospital Friday morning by Savannah-Chatham police and emergency medical technicians to be evaluated for a mental health condition, said Julian Miller, metro police spokesman.
Under the guard of the deputy, Williams was allowed to step outside to smoke a cigarette while he awaited transfer to Georgia Regional Hospital about 7:30 p.m.
After smoking the cigarette, Miller said, Williams attacked the deputy who was working for St. Joseph’s and attempted to steal his gun before climbing into the Southside Fire ambulance.
Normal procedures were followed in allowing Williams to go outside under the deputy’s watch, said Scott Larson, St. Joseph’s/Candler Hospital spokesman.
However, Larson added, after the incident the hospital is planning to review its procedures.
“We definitely need to learn from this situation,” Larson said. “We’re going to look at what changes we might need to make.”
Police attempted several times to stop the ambulance with spike strips, but the suspect continued to drive — striking several vehicles — even with three flat tires, Miller said.
Finally, Georgia State Patrol troopers were able to stop the ambulance by surrounding and blocking it in near the intersection of Montgomery Street and Staley Avenue about 9 p.m.
There, Miller said, troopers had to use a stun gun in order to subdue Williams. He was transported from the scene by another ambulance to be checked out and was later booked into the Chatham County jail.
Savannah-Chatham police Capt. Phillip Reilley, the West Chatham Precinct commander, lauded the cooperation of the officers from his department, Garden City, Port Wentworth and the Georgia State Patrol Nighthawk Division for their handling of the incident.
“Everyone used the proper restraint to avoid injuries and excessive damage to property,” Reilley said. “People could have been injured and that was an expensive piece of equipment that could have done a lot of damage. They did a fantastic job of preventing both.”