2 Killed in Car Struck by Stolen Ambulance

A stolen ambulance driven by an unidentified woman smashed into a car Saturday, killing its two occupants, and then careened into four parked cars along a major Anaheim street, police said.

The ambulance was allegedly stolen from Anaheim Memorial Hospital just minutes before the 5 p.m. collision by a woman in her 50s. She was wearing a plastic wristband similar to those worn by hospital patients, said Anaheim Police Sgt. Joe Vargas.

The ambulance sped through a red light at the intersection of La Palma Avenue and Romneya Drive, slicing off the side of a blue Toyota Tercel. The two unidentified men inside the car were killed on impact, Vargas said. The woman was transported to UCI Medical Center in Orange with minor injuries.

Passersby and people in John Marshall Park said they watched dumbfounded as the ambulance sped westbound on La Palma toward the Tercel, which was turning left onto the same street.

“I knew they were going to [crash]. I was, like, I can’t believe this is happening,” said Vincent Valenzuela, 15, who saw the crash from his frontyard. “I had the chills.”

After the impact, Valenzuela rushed to the Tercel but he said the two men inside appeared to be dead. He continued to the ambulance, which had turned on its side and skidded more than 50 yards along the asphalt, spewing twisted metal and glass along they way. He helped a bystander climb onto the ambulance to rescue the driver.

Meanwhile, the sound of the crash had brought dozens of neighbors to the scene.

“I heard the ambulance skidding,” said John Ronquillo, 17. “It was loud, a bunch of metal screeching, like a big can opener.”

Ronquillo also ran to the ambulance, and saw the driver move her hand. She got up with the aid of another passerby and staggered out through the back of the vehicle. She was wearing a flowered dress.

“She was just shaking,” said Ronquillo, who is Valenzuela’s cousin.

The woman was arrested on suspicion of auto theft and was to be booked at the county jail’s facility at Western Medical Center in Anaheim, Vargas said.

Officials at the hospital--only a mile from the accident--had not yet reported the ambulance missing when the crash occurred, Vargas said. Police could not confirm Saturday night whether the woman was a patient at the medical center or how she ended up behind the wheel of the ambulance.

Both victims were in their 20s, Vargas said. Police withheld their identities.

Liz Bear, a spokeswoman for Anaheim Memorial, refused to discuss the stolen ambulance.

Local residents said the intersection is a dangerous one.

Times staff writer Scott Gold contributed to this report.