Teen accused of stealing PVH ambulance from CSU

A Colorado State University student was jailed on Sunday after he stole an ambulance from campus, fled to Loveland, crashed into at least one road sign and then defied an officer's orders prompting them to deploy a Taser and take him into custody, arrest records show.

Poudre Valley Hospital EMS responded at 1:47 a.m. Sunday to Academic Village, 816 W. Pitkin Street, on the CSU campus for someone experiencing a medical emergency, hospital spokeswoman Kelly Tracer confirmed. The ambulance crew left the rig in a parking lot, and when they returned with the patient at 2:14 a.m., the ambulance was missing.

"Our ambulance is gone," an EMT reported to dispatch.

All PVH ambulances have on-board GPS tracking systems. Moments after it was reported stolen, dispatchers and emergency crews contacted Loveland police along with multiple other agencies and aired repeated updates about the rig's location in real-time all the way to its eventual stop on U.S. Highway 34 near Boyd Lake Road.

Loveland police approached the rig, which was facing north in the middle of the east-west street. They contacted 18-year-old Stefan Sortland standing next to the ambulance wearing a PVH EMT safety vest, and he would not follow commands, according to court records.

He began walking toward one of the officers and refused to drop an armful of items, prompting police to use a stun gun to subdue him, records show. The items he was clutching included a blanket and box of Wheat Thins crackers.

Sortland, an undeclared sophomore at CSU, told police he took the ambulance and talked about "following the bright lights and other ramblings which were not relevant to the incident at hand," police wrote.

Authorities later located a pill labeled as Adderall — a schedule II controlled substance for which he did not have a prescription.

The ambulance was damaged and appears to have barreled off of U.S. 34 and crashed into a sign before being disabled. A damage estimate was not immediately made available.

Sortland also told police he broke out a window of a Nissan sedan and tried to steal it before he took the ambulance, records indicate. He also smashed the window of another sedan that was located near where the disabled ambulance was found.

Contents from the ambulance were inventoried, but nothing was reported missing, Tracer said.

Sortland was arrested on suspicion of multiple misdemeanor and felony crimes including aggravated vehicle theft, obstructing EMS, reckless driving, hit-and-run, criminal mischief and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

He remains in custody at the Larimer County Jail. Bond was set on Monday for $15,000, and he is next due in court Friday.

The patient who needed medical attention is reported to be doing okay and was treated and transported to an area hospital when another ambulance arrived.

It has been about 30 years since a PVH ambulance was stolen. That incident involved a psychiatric patient who stole a rig from the emergency bay at the hospital. It isn't uncommon for crews to leave ambulances running while they treat a patient — it allows for faster transport and ensures all devices in the patient cabin can work immediately.

"However, in light of Sunday morning's theft, we will definitely re-evaluate the protocol," Tracer said.

Reporter Jason Pohl coversbreaking news for the Coloradoan. Follow him on Twitter: @pohl_jason.