Oregon woman steals ambulance as medics perform CPR, goes on wild 30-mile joyride, cops say
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Sure, Christy Lynn Woods, 37, may have boosted an ambulance while paramedics performed CPR on an unconscious woman in southern Oregon.
Sure, she then led police officers, sheriff's deputies and state troopers on a high-speed chase up Interstate 5 for nearly 30 miles — ambulance lights flashing the whole way, authorities say.
And yes, she is accused of ramming a cop car off the freeway as her speedometer hit 85 miles an hour.
But, seated and handcuffed in the back of a patrol car Sunday, Woods apparently wanted to know what the fuss was all about.
"I was a good [expletive] driver," she reportedly told Officer Chris Bonebrake, court records filed in Douglas County show. "I didn't try to hurt anyone."
Furthermore, Woods seemed to think the whole thing wasn't her fault.
"Why did they leave it unlocked?" she asked Bonebrake, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the officer.
The wild episode began just before 3:30 p.m., when emergency paramedics rushed to the aid of an unconscious woman at an apartment building on Southeast Jackson Street in downtown Roseburg, court records show.
As the medics attempted to revive the woman, police said Woods — a local with a lengthy and colorful rap sheet — apparently came across their ambulance parked outside on the street.
No bother. Woods decided to fire up the engine and take off, police said.
The medics, who needed to take their patient to the hospital, returned to find their emergency vehicle missing.
Soon after, an Oregon state trooper on patrol attempted to pull Woods over while she cruised around downtown, authorities said.
Instead, the woman pulled onto the freeway, hit the emergency lights and stepped on the gas, documents show.
The ambulance chase was on.
Woods reached speeds of 85 miles an hour as she raced north on I-5, court records allege. At one point, near milepost 130, she rammed a state police cruiser that was driving in front of the ambulance in an attempt to divert traffic, the records say.
The collision sent the cop car careening into the highway's wire median, which shaved the light bar off the top of vehicle completely and shattered the windshield.
"There was so much dirt and debris from the crash that I could not see the roadway for about a second," wrote Bonebrake, who was tailing the suspect.
The trooper inside suffered minor injuries, police said.
Woods drove another 16 miles before officers managed to slash the ambulance's tires with spike strips across the road, police said. She eventually pulled off the freeway and into a gas station, leapt from the ambulance and immediately dropped to the ground.
"I gave up when I should," she informed Bonebrake, who arrested her.
On her way to the Douglas County Jail, Woods seemed truly astonished by the whole string of events.
"Oh my God, I can't believe I just did that," she said, records show.
She was booked on 13 charges, including assault, interfering with an EMT, criminal mischief and reckless driving.
Court records show Woods has had multiple run-ins with the law in recent years. In February, she was convicted of attempting to clobber bar patrons with a bottle at the Idle Hour Tavern, yelling racial slurs and later kicking a police officer.
This time she may have taken things a bit too far, she seemed to concede to Bonebrake.
"Piss," she reportedly said. "I'm going to prison."
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