Most car chases start with a car. This one started with a stretcher, a domestic dispute, and a decision that made sense to exactly one person on the planet. Six years on, the footage keeps resurfacing, and every time it does, a new wave of people discovers the story and can’t quite believe it’s real.
It began as a domestic disturbance call in Northeast Philadelphia. Medic Unit 49 was dispatched to the Roosevelt Inn on Roosevelt Boulevard, where a woman had been spotted fleeing a room in distress. Paramedics made contact with 42-year-old Mark Giwerowski, who was shirtless, bleeding from the face, and apparently not in the mood for medical attention. When officers arrived, he was yelling near the ambulance — and then he just got in and drove away.
When officers and firefighters tried to stop him, Giwerowski threw the vehicle into reverse. One officer was struck by the driver’s door as he pulled out, and the ambulance clipped a police vehicle before heading south on Roosevelt Boulevard. An officer opened fire, hitting Giwerowski three times through the driver’s door. At that point, most stories end. This one was barely getting started.
What followed was nearly 90 minutes of Giwerowski threading a city ambulance through Northeast Philadelphia — barreling through a gas station, driving over medians, going the wrong way on one-way streets, and at one point pulling into a Burger King lot as if he was reconsidering his options. He wasn’t. He closed the door and kept going.
The Tow Truck Driver Nobody Asked For
Joell Hilton, owner of Greater Philadelphia Towing, happened to be nearby when the chase came to him — literally. The stolen ambulance struck his tow truck from behind. “I didn’t even know it was stolen at first,” Hilton said. “I thought the paramedics just hit me and ran.”
Rather than pull over and file a report like a reasonable person, Hilton spent the next four minutes trying to maneuver his tow truck in front of the ambulance. The crane eventually connected with one of the front tires, flattening it. Giwerowski kept driving — now down to about 15 mph — while Hilton attempted to ram the radiator and force an overheat. It didn’t work, but the effort was remarkable.
Three Shots, a Flat Tire, and a Spike Strip
Pennsylvania State Police deployed spike strips, which finished what the tow truck started. Giwerowski kept moving until he reached the 2700 block of Tolbut Street, where the ambulance finally rolled to a stop on a front lawn. Officers tased him and pulled him from the driver’s seat. He was wearing only underwear.
Giwerowski was transported to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital in critical but stable condition with three gunshot wounds to his lower extremities. Charges included robbery, carjacking, unauthorized use of a vehicle, and fleeing police, among others.
Why Ambulances Are Always Running
The question everyone asked afterward: why was the ambulance left running and unlocked in the first place? Philadelphia Fire Commissioner Adam Thiel explained that crews have no choice — the emergency lights and onboard equipment require continuous power, so the engine stays on. It wasn’t even the first time that year. A Philadelphia medic unit had been stolen from outside Methodist Hospital just months earlier, though that chase ended far more quickly.
The clip keeps making the rounds because it has everything: an unlikely vehicle, an improbable civilian hero, and a suspect who somehow kept going after three gunshot wounds and a flat tire. Philadelphia has seen a lot of things. This one still gets a second look.