Police: Pepper-sprayed man tries stealing ambulance

Apr. 1—A Plymouth man who was pepper sprayed during an altercation tried stealing an ambulance that brought him to Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, police said.

Elijah Kareem Rivers, 20, was arrested after attempting to steal the ambulance around 1 p.m. Wednesday, police said.

Police said Rivers was involved in an incident in Plymouth Borough that led to him being pepper sprayed.

As he was being taken to the hospital, Rivers began acting erratically in the back of the ambulance, police said.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Rivers jumped into the driver's seat of the ambulance and tried several times to put it in gear, but ultimately ran from the scene when he was unable to put the vehicle into drive, police said.

Wilkes-Barre police were unable to find Rivers in the area, but Plymouth police later found him and arrested him without incident.

While Rivers was being taken to Wilkes-Barre police headquarters, he said he "would have been gone" if he had gotten the ambulance into gear, police said.

Police charged Rivers with theft and disorderly conduct.

Magisterial District Judge Michael G. Dotzel arraigned Rivers on the charges Wednesday evening and set bail at $5,000.

Rivers was being held at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with a preliminary hearing set for April 8.

Contact the writer: jhalpin@citizensvoice.com; 570-821-2058