Excerpts from nbcchicago.com:

A man has been charged with stealing a Chicago Fire Department ambulance Monday in the Chinatown neighborhood and leading police on a chase that lasted more than two hours.

According to police, Benjamin K. Herrington, 46, entered the ambulance around 4:40 p.m. as it sat empty, parked on the street outside a fire station in the 200 block of West Cermak Road.

Herrington then allegedly took the ambulance on a more than 70-mile ride before being taken into custody in a dramatic pursuit that lasted nearly two hours and shut down both sides of Interstate 55 in Livingston County.

Illinois State Police remained in pursuit of the vehicle before it blew a tire and ultimately was stopped just short of exit 217 in Dwight.

Herrington, from Chicago, was charged with fleeing from police, resisting arrest and possession of a stolen vehicle, Illinois State Police said.

He was treated at a hospital and taken to Grundy County Jail, where’s he’s awaiting transfer to Cook County. Chicago police are the lead investigating agency.

thanks Rob