At the scene where another suspect allegedly stabbed someone to death, a man was caught on video stealing an ambulance from outside the Downey City Library before leading authorities on a pursuit Saturday morning.
Witnesses said the chaos started around 9:40 a.m. near Brookshire Avenue, close to Downey City Hall and the police department.
Video filmed from the nearby Embassy Suites shows officers on foot and in patrol vehicles chasing the ambulance as the suspect sped out of the library parking lot. A woman watching from the hotel balcony can be heard yelling, “He’s stealing the ambulance!” as sirens blared.
Additional footage obtained by KTLA shows the possible stabbing victim’s body covered with a yellow tarp after paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene.
Unconfirmed witness accounts suggest the violence began with an altercation between two men, neither of whom was the pursuit suspect, outside the library, where one man allegedly stabbed the other in the neck before paramedics arrived.
According to these accounts, a third, uninvolved man came over to the scene and took the unattended ambulance while first responders were treating the stabbing victim, who was later identified as an unhoused individual. Authorities attempted to chase the stolen ambulance out of the parking lot on foot, but soon initiated a vehicle pursuit.
The pursuit ended when the stolen ambulance crashed into a parked vehicle on a residential street around the Alhambra area, as seen in footage from the Citizen app. Videos also show that while authorities are arresting the suspect, his pants fall around his ankles, appearing to leave him nude from the waist down. Police dressed the man and took him into custody.
Authorities have not yet identified the victim or the suspect. The investigation is ongoing.
Luis Zuniga contributed to this report.