Two paramedics in San Francisco were shaken up Monday morning after an attacker smashed the windows of their ambulance with a wooden tree stake, and then commandeered the vehicle and tried to run them over, authorities said.
The uniformed paramedics were in the fire department ambulance in the 1700 block of Harrison Street in the city's Mission District about 7 a.m. when they were attacked, according to police and the firefighters union.
The suspect shattered the ambulance windows with a wooden stake, prompting the medics to get out for their own safety, said Danny Gracia, president of San Francisco Firefighters Local 798.
The attacker then jumped inside and drove the vehicle, apparently trying to run down the medics, Gracia said.
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"This is another ambulance out of service and two personnel who are rightfully, shaken up," the union said in a post on social media, accompanied by photos of the damage. "This behavior in our city is not acceptable."
Gracia said the medics weren't injured in the attack.
Police said the assailant drove into the Best Buy parking lot, where he did some laps in the ambulance before getting out and climbing a fence to get away.
Police are investigating but no arrests have been made.
The firefighters union hall in the Mission was broken into and ransacked last week, the union said in a Twitter post Monday morning aimed at Mayor London Breed and San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkins.
After the break-in, police "responded and caught the burglar but not before he did thousands of dollars of damage. We have all been patient enough. It's time for some changes," the union said.
