Friday, September 7, 2012

** North Carolina woman facing grand theft charges after using ambulance heist to get police attention

** Stretch of highway to be named after California LODD EMT

UNITED STATES NEWS

** A North Carolina woman has been charged with grand theft after allegedly stealing an ambulance to get police attention over a missing friend. That is the word from NBC Miami (Brian Hamacher/September 5) which said High Point resident Crystal Dawn Clampitt, 22, apparently took the unit Sunday while vacationing in Key West, Florida. According to the newspaper, Clampitt hopped behind the wheel of the EMS rig after police were slow in responding to her alarm over her friend. Attempting to get attention from the authorities, she lit up the ambulance before instigating a chase. She was finally apprehended after a fire truck applied its brakes while in front of the unit. Clampitt is currently out on $7,500 bond.

** A stretch of California highway in San Luis Obispo is being dedicated in the name of an LODD EMT who died three years ago when an ATV rolled over him. The San Luis Obispo Tribune (Bob Cuddy/September 5) said the initiative in honor of Christopher Meadows, 24, has already passed the state legislature. It is now up to the transportation authority to implement, though signage will have to be paid for by fundraising. Meadows, who worked in search and rescue, died May 24, 2009 at Oceano Dunes while responding to a call for a man who had broken his leg. An EMT at the time of his death, he had applied to further his education to become a paramedic.