Chicago to upfit ambulances for keyless idle. 

Excerpts from nbc5chicago.com:

Surveillance video from April 25 shows a Chicago Fire Department ambulance turn onto Cermak, coming to a stop in front of the Chinatown firehouse at 4:30 p.m. Both paramedics walk into the firehouse, leaving the ambulance idling for roughly 12 minutes before a man walks up, first passing the firehouse then circling back around to the front of the vehicle.

At 4:44 p.m., the man opens the driver’s side door – which appears to be unlocked – and climbs inside. Just five seconds later, the ambulance pulls away.

Another 12 minutes pass before the paramedics can be seen walking back outside, stopping in their tracks and turning to one another in shock as they realize the ambulance is gone.

During the more than 70-mile police chase, the driver – who authorities later identified as 45-year-old Chicago attorney Benjamin Herrington – delivered an incoherent and at times disturbing rant via the ambulance’s radio before he was eventually taken custody in the far southwest suburbs. Herrington was charged in Grundy County with possession of a stolen vehicle and damage to government property, both felonies. Herrington has not posted bond and remains in custody in the Grundy County Jail. There is a status hearing in his case next week, with a trial date set for September.

But when it comes to the theft of the ambulance itself, the Chicago Police Department said it closed the case without an arrest of its own, and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office said the matter was never referred to them for charging.

The Chicago Fire Department said at times, they need to leave ambulances running for the purposes of electronics, charging batteries and cooling. But the department is currently in the process of outfitting its more than 90 ambulances each with a new anti-theft device that allows the ambulances to idle without the keys, and if someone breaks into the vehicle or tries to force the ignition, would turn the ambulance off.

thanks Martin