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Background: Police body camera footage shows the suspect in the theft of an ambulance emerging from the vehicle (Wisconsin Rapids Police Department/WISN/YouTube). Inset: Benjamin Feltz (Wood County Jail).
In central Wisconsin, a man allegedly took off in an ambulance with a patient onboard, sparking a perilous police pursuit.
Benjamin Feltz, 37, is facing multiple felony charges, including first-degree reckless endangerment, threats of harm to judicial figures, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and evading police. Additional misdemeanor charges have also been filed against him, as per Wood County court documents examined by Law&Crime.
The incident unfolded on Tuesday night when paramedics in Wisconsin Rapids were attending to a patient inside an ambulance. Suddenly, a man leaped into the driver’s seat and sped away, as detailed in a criminal complaint reviewed by Milwaukee’s ABC affiliate WISN. The paramedics shouted, “What are you doing?” and ordered him to “Get out!” and “Stop,” but their pleas went ignored.
The patient, who was inside the ambulance, was terrified and yelled at the driver, expressing her fear by stating, “I’m dying from kidney disease.”
Body camera footage shared by the Wisconsin Rapids Police Department and the regional outlet shows the ambulance swerving around spikes meant to deflate its tires, driving through a landfill, and onto a highway. Officers can also be seen sharing details with one another, such as “Dude is naked. And it looks like he has brown long hair and a beard.”
The chase came to an end when the ambulance veered off the highway and became immobilized in a field, according to officials. Officers approached the vehicle, instructing the suspect, identified as Feltz, to turn off the engine and exit with his hands raised. He complied, allowing authorities to finally attend to the distressed patient in the back.
The patient was taken to a nearby hospital and Feltz was arrested. However, he allegedly did not stop his threatening behavior once in police custody.
“It’s time for you to feel my pain,” he told an officer, according to the complaint, as well as “Yes, I’m threatening you,” and “It’s your turn to die.”
He told police he drank roughly half a bottle of chemical cleaner that day and that there may have been “pot” in his system, WISN reported.
Feltz had an initial appearance in court scheduled for Friday afternoon.