Suspect in carjacking of San Francisco ambulance hit with attempted murder charges
SAN FRANCISCO - A man suspected of assaulting paramedics and stealing their ambulance in August has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies, according to the San Francisco District Attorney's Office.
Francisco Vargas-Osario, 33, was arrested Thursday near Seventh and Minna streets in San Francisco and charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, carjacking, vandalism, receiving a stolen vehicle and vehicle theft, prosecutors and police officials announced Monday.
Vargas-Osario, who is being held without bond, is alleged to have used a wooden tree stake to smash the ambulance windows as it was parked in the Best Buy parking lot at 1717 Harrison Street while two San Francisco Fire Department paramedics were inside.
Man steals San Francisco ambulance, attempts to mow down paramedics
Two San Francisco paramedics were left shaken up Monday morning after a man stole their ambulance and tried to run them over, authorities said. San Francisco police Deputy Chief Raj Vaswani said the incident happened at 6:50 a.m. in the 1700 block of Harrison.
When the paramedics got out of the vehicle to flee, Vargas-Osario allegedly commandeered it and then tried to run them down. He drove some laps around the parking lot and then got out and hopped a fence to get away, according to police officials.
"Although I am grateful no one was harmed, attacking on-duty EMTs endangers all of us as we depend on these brave individuals to render life-saving aid when we are at our most vulnerable, and in desperate need of medical attention," District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said in a news release Monday.
Vargas-Osario was identified as a suspect based on unspecified evidence CSI officers found at the scene, according to police.
He was arrested Thursday after being recognized by an off-duty SFPD officer, police said.