Sterling parolee accused of stealing, wrecking CGH ambulance

STERLING – Stealing an ambulance is no petty crime.

If convicted, parolee Pedro T. Galindo III, 26, of Sterling, who police say stole and wrecked an ambulance Saturday while fleeing from the CGH Medical Center emergency department, could face 6 to 30 years.

The main charge is theft of state-supported property worth more than $100,000 but less than $500,000. The value of the ambulance, which might be totaled, falls about in about the middle of that range.

Galindo, who is on parole in a 2017 Whiteside County aggravated battery case, now also is charged with aggravated battery, obstructing identification and disobeying a stop sign. More charges are pending, Sterling police said in a news release.

According to police and CGH, patient Galindo, for reasons unknown, ran away from the emergency department shortly after 1 p.m., took the bus from the ambulance bay, ran the stop sign at 10th and Locust streets and was struck by a northbound passenger car being driven by an 88-year-old Rock Falls man.

The impact sent the ambulance sliding into the curb, where it rolled on it side. Galindo kicked out the windshield and shoved a passerby who was trying to help him get out, which is where the aggravated battery charge comes in.

He fled on foot and was caught in the 900 block of Avenue C.

The car was totaled. Both men were taken to CGH to be checked out; neither was seriously injured.

Galindo was in Whiteside County Jail Sunday, awaiting a bond hearing, but the Illinois Department of Corrections has put a hold on him for the parole violation.