Clad in a hospital gown and with an IV still hanging from his arm, a Prince William County man took an ambulance from the hospital where he was being treated following a crash involving a stolen car in Fairfax County, police said.
Rickey Lowe, 32, was a passenger in the car that was reported stolen, but he was not facing charges from the original crash Monday afternoon and there were no active warrants for his arrest, Lt. Jim Curry with Fairfax County police said Tuesday during a news conference.
But while he was receiving treatment, “he eloped from the hospital” before he was discharged, Curry said. “He’s certainly wanted now” for grand larceny, Curry said.
The private medical ambulance was found abandoned in Annandale, but despite an extensive search Monday night with the help of a helicopter, police have not yet located Lowe.
“What we know is later on in the evening or in the early morning, there was a call out in Prince William County for officers searching for the same suspect down there. So we don’t believe that he’s in this area,” Curry said.
Lowe was a passenger in the car stolen earlier Monday afternoon that crashed on Route 50 at Interstate 66, leaving four others injured, Fairfax County police said.
The driver in that crash, who has not been identified by officials, left a parking lot near the Fair Oaks Mall, and upon seeing police, sped up on Route 50 before crashing and becoming airborne at the ramp to the interstate. The driver has been charged for the theft of the vehicle at this time.
Curry described the crash caught on video, where the car “quite literally flies over some of the roadway or some of the grassy area, and ends up landing in the travel lane, which is the exit ramp from 66 to eastbound 50.”
Officers looking for the pictured suspect wearing medical gown for theft of the ambulance. (2/2) pic.twitter.com/5exthnvEjZ
— Fairfax County Police (@FairfaxCountyPD) February 20, 2024
Five adults in the car were taken to the hospital, including one with life-threatening injuries.
Curry confirmed that the car was stolen out of Prince William County on Feb. 14. Police said officers recovered two firearms, including one with an obliterated serial number, and narcotics from the stolen car.
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