An EMT in the Bronx was killed Thursday night after a man got into her ambulance and ran her over with it.
The man, identified as Jose Gonzalez, 25, allegedly jumped on the back of the ambulance at about 7:10 p.m. as EMTs Yadira Arroyo and Monique Williams were responding to a call, the New York Daily News reported. When the ambulance stopped, Gonzalez allegedly jumped off and tried to steal a backpack from someone passing by, according to the Daily News. The two EMTs then left the ambulance and tried to help, but the suspect jumped into the driver’s seat of the ambulance.
As the EMTs struggled with Gonzalez, Arroyo was knocked from the ambulance and Gonzalez allegedly backed up over her, dragging her for about 15 feet until she went under the wheels, the Daily News reported. The ambulance finally hit a parked car before stopping. Williams, the other EMT, was treated for minor injuries.
Gonzalez was reportedly detained by a group of passersby including off-duty MTA Officer Daniel McCabe and is now in custody facing charges of murder, grand larceny and DWI. A Daily News source said that Gonzalez “was incoherent and talking to himself.”
The New York Times reported that Gonzalez was known to police and that they have had many encounters with him as an emotionally disturbed person.
Arroyo was a mother of five and a 14-year veteran of the Fire Department, according to the Times. New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio said that Arroyo was “lost in the line of duty, bravely doing her job, encountering the kind of danger our EMTs should not have to confront,” the Daily News reported.
Twitter users offered condolences and prayers to Arroyo’s family and co-workers.
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