While waiting for the ambulance to arrive, he was very concerned we were going to kill him but he didn't walk away. He wanted my help but he didn't know if he could trust me. I dealt with the non-stop rambling of this paranoid individual who was carrying a single bag containing all of his possessions. His mom just moved away a few weeks ago to get away from her son and his many issues like today. He is 36 years old and now homeless. Mom even took the truck he used daily.
The ambulance arrived and he voluntarily got inside so the firefighters can examine him. It's a combination of meth use as well as some mental illness. The last drug anyone suffering from Schizophrenia should use is Methamphetamine. But again, I'm no doctor.
The Fire Department requested the police to ride in the back of the ambulance while they transported him to the hospital. He wasn't under arrest but we did it anyway. It was just a call for medical treatment. He sat quietly on the gurney strapped in while driving to the hospital a few miles away. It was me and the paramedic who sat in the back for the ride. The paramedic sat against the back wall right behind the driver and I was on the side of the gurney area. Its a pretty tight squeeze back there with all the equipment.
It was a few minutes into the ride when in a split second, this guy jumped up and lunged at the ambulance back doors. They both swung open and he was partially outside already. Luckily we were no longer on the freeway but on a side street at a light. I was able to grab the lower portion of his shirt as he tried to exit. It was stretching more and more as he made every attempt to get away, and I didn't know if I was going to lose my grip or if his shirt was just going to rip off.
The paramedic now grabbed part of his shirt as well and we were doing all we ccould to prevent him from getting out and possibly dragging us with him. Finally, the driver stopped the ambulance and was now outside the back door pushing the patient inside while we were still pulling on his clothes. With half his body hanging out of an ambulance and him screaming for help, it must have looked a little strange, especially for the people in the car stopped behind us.
It only took a minute or two but it seemed like forever. We were able to secure him to the gurney and now he is wearing my hand cuffs so this does not happen again. If he tries this again, he will now have to carry the gurney out on his back as well.
This isn't something you see everyday. A cop and a paramedic hanging on to the back of this crazy guy's shirt trying to keep him from jumping out of the ambulance doors. When it was all said and done, I looked to the car behind us and all I can see was the driver holding up her cell phone, probably recording our incident.
No one can ever catch a bad guy on video doing something wrong but everyone is always camera ready when it involves the police or fire department. We made it to the hospital without any other incident.
