Woman crashes stolen ambulance into upstate NY bay

NEW YORK - A stolen ambulance was pulled from the Irondequoit Bay following a lengthy pursuit on the New York State Thruway.

Police reportedly caught up to the vehicle on Sunday along the Thruway and later on I-490 and into the city of Rochester. The chase lasted about 100 miles.

Cops later located the ambulance off of the Culver Road exit, and were led down Seneca Road when the vehicle crashed into Irondequoit Bay near Newport Yacht Club.

"It was surreal to see somebody come flying through, crashing through our gate and go into the water," Bob Henry, who serves on the board of directors for the club, told the 13WHAM.

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David Drushler was making a delivery at the yacht club and witnessed the incident. He said the woman rolled the window down to get out and was trying to get on top of the ambulance to hold something. "People on the power boats around were yelling, ‘She’s drowning. She can’t swim.’ That’s when the power boats came down and fished her out," Drushler said.

Members of the Monroe County Sheriff’s scuba team helped locate the vehicle sunken below, not far from the docks. Crews spent more than an hour pulling the ambulance out of the water.

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Police said the unidentified woman driver would not comply as they attempted to pull the vehicle over several times.

A spokesperson from Utica-based Kunkel Ambulance said the vehicle was stolen during a post-shift cleaning and tracked using a GPS.

The woman was immediately taken into custody and charges are pending.