25-
year sentence
BOERNE — A parolee accused of stealing a San Antonio Fire Department ambulance from outside a hospital and leading police on a 50-mile, three-county chase now finds himself idling behind bars.
The episode from Nov. 25, 2023, parked Phillip Perez, 36, of Henderson, in 451st state District Judge Kirsten Cohoon’s courtroom last week, where he received a 25-year sentence after pleading guilty to evading arrest or detention in a motor vehicle.
According to prosecutors, at the time of the offense Perez was on parole out of Bexar County and completing supervision fol- lowing a six-year sentence for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance under 200 grams.
The ambulance case revved up more than 12 months ago when San Antonio police responded to a call at Metropolitan Methodist Hospital in downtown San Antonio for a reported theft of a motor vehicle.
While en route, officers learned the stolen vehicle belonged to the Fire Department and was taken from an unloading zone while paramedics dropped off a patient.
SAFD was able to track the stolen ambulance, valued at more than $1 million, and provided location updates to police and the SAPD helicopter “Eagle.”
SAPD patrol cruisers unsuccessfully tried to stop the ambulance, officials said.
The police chopper continued to trail the vehicle even after the ground pursuit was called off. The Kendall County Sheriff’s Office and Boerne Police Department then joined in the chase at 5:43 a.m. when the stolen ambulance entered Kendall County.
Boerne officers laid down spike strips at mile marker 543 on Interstate 10 West, successfully deflating most of the ambulance’s tires. The vehicle, however, did not pull over nor stop, prosecutors said. According to the investigation, sheriff’s deputies deployed additional spike strips at mile markers 537, 535, 532 and 527. Five of the vehicle’s six tires were now deflated, but the pursuit continued into Kerr County, officers said.
Four Kerr County Sheriff’s Office deputies waited for the wayward ambulance with additional spike strips, which deflated the sixth tire.
The vehicle still continued to drive at speeds of 30 mph to 52 mph, which gave officers a chance to intercept the ambulance. It finally pulled to the shoulder near I-10 West mile marker 517 and the driver was arrested.
Kendall County Assistant District Attorney Alessandra Deike led the prosecution.
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