WISCONSIN RAPIDS − A 37-year-old Stevens Point man charged with stealing a city ambulance with a patient inside waived his right to a preliminary hearing May 4.
Benjamin L. Feltz was charged Feb. 19 with four felony counts including first-degree recklessly endangering safety, threatening to cause bodily harm to an individual involved with the court or legal system, operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent and attempting to flee or elude an officer. He also was charged with six misdemeanor counts including lewd and lascivious behavior, obstruction of emergency or rescue persons, disorderly conduct, operating after revocation due to alcohol or controlled substance, violating a court order restricting operating privilege-ignition interlock device, and operating a motor vehicle while under the influence: third offense.
Feltz’s attorney, James Bennett, waived Feltz’s right to a preliminary hearing May 4. A preliminary hearing is when prosecutors must show a judge there is enough evidence to show a crime was probably committed and the defendant probably committed it. Wood County Circuit Judge Nicholas Brazeau Jr. set Feltz’s arraignment for May 18.
According to the criminal complaint, at 5:27 p.m. Feb. 17, a caller reported a naked man doing pushups near the railroad tracks on 21st Avenue South in Wisconsin Rapids.
Two Wisconsin Rapids Fire Department employees were on a medical call in the 1400 block of 22nd Avenue South and were going to transport a patient in the back of the ambulance, according to the complaint.
Both employees were in the back of the ambulance when they heard the door close to the front of the ambulance. Both saw a nude man with long hair in the ambulance’s driver’s seat.
One of the employees got out of the back of the ambulance and attempted to get the nude man out of the cab of the ambulance. Before the employee could get the man out of the cab, he drove away, according to the complaint.
The other employee jumped out of the back of the ambulance when it started to move. A patient was left in the ambulance without emergency medical service workers with her.
The patient, a 50-year-old Wisconsin Rapids woman, later told officers she yelled at the driver to stop and told him she was dying, but the driver never talked to her. She said she was afraid the driver was going to crash the ambulance and she feared for her life, according to the complaint. She was not injured during the incident.
Wisconsin Rapids officers found the ambulance going west on Boles Street. An officer tried to stop the fleeing ambulance, but the driver ignored the lights and sirens.
The ambulance went toward the Cranberry Creek landfill and proceeded to go on dirt roads throughout the property, according to the complaint. It then left the landfill property and eventually turned north on State 73, after avoiding two attempts to stop it with spike strips.
Multiple Wood County squads joined the chase, and it headed toward Pittsville, according to the complaint. A Wood County deputy was unsuccessful in using a spike strip near the intersection of State 73 and Hickory Street. A Pittsville officer was able to successfully use a spike strip to deflate the ambulance tires, but it kept going through Pittsville, according to the complaint.
The ambulance was approaching Wood County X when the driver made an aggressive maneuver, left the road and entered a cornfield, according to the complaint. The ambulance then became stuck in the mud in the cornfield. The chase lasted for more than 18 miles and reached speeds of more than 90 mph, according to the complaint.
Wood County officers gave multiple commands over the public address system for the driver to come out, but he did not comply, according to the complaint. Officers from multiple agencies approached the ambulance, but the driver still did not obey orders to get out of the vehicle. A Port Edwards officer was able to open the door and pull the driver out.
Officers handcuffed the man, who they identified as Feltz, and removed him from the field. Feltz admitted to officers he consumed a chemical cleaner prior to driving the ambulance. He said he might have some marijuana in his system and said he drank a half of a bottle of the cleaner, according to the complaint.
Contact Karen Madden kmadden@usatodayco.com. Follow her on Twitter @KMadden715, Instagram @kmadden715 or Facebook at www.facebook.com/karen.madden.33
This article originally appeared on Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune: Case against man charged with stealing WI Rapids ambulance moves forward
Reporting by Karen Madden, Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune / Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune
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