Question: What's the best way to get home from the police station after being arrested?
Cesar Garcia's alleged answer: Steal the ambulance from the police department parking lot, of course.
See also:
-Meth and Stupidity Likely to Blame for Phoenix Man's Shirtless Ambulance Joyride
Police say Garcia, 33, was arrested around 10:45 a.m. Sunday while drinking a beer inside the Fry's grocery store at the corner of Warner Road and Alma School Road.
He was processed at the Chandler Police Department and was issued a citation before being released.
Chandler Police Sergeant Joe Favazzo says the ambulance was there for a completely unrelated call.
Chandler police say "it appears that Garcia did not want to walk home" to Guadalupe, so he stole an ambulance that was parked in the parking lot. Nobody was in the ambulance when he stole it, police say.
Tempe police officers found that -- sure enough -- Garcia had driven the ambulance to his home in Guadalupe.
According to court documents obtained by New Times, Garcia didn't actually make it inside the home, as police tried to catch him outside. He "attempted to punch and kick" officers -- as he also knocked one officer's glasses off his face, scratching them -- but was eventually taken into custody.
Garcia was then transported to a hospital, where he proceeded to spit in a nurse's eye, according to the documents.
Garcia was eventually booked into jail on charges including theft of transportation, unlawful flight from law enforcement, resisting arrest, criminal damage, and aggravated DUI.
Coincidentally, just last week, another Valley man was found guilty of stealing an ambulance. Travis Ward stole an ambulance that was at the scene of a fire in Phoenix back in 2011.
Ward, who cited meth as his reasoning for taking the ambulance, ended up crashing into several things, as police estimated his total tab of damage at more than $300,000, including the cost of the ambulance.
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