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MONTREAL — A Montreal ambulance was taken for a wild ride when a patient jumped into the front seat and sped away with the vehicle, the local ambulance service said Wednesday.

The woman was later intercepted by police after hitting several other vehicles during her flight.

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A spokesman for the city’s emergency service said the incident began when two paramedics picked up a seemingly intoxicated woman in the city’s Little Burgundy neighbourhood at around 10:45 p.m. Tuesday.

Francois Labelle said the woman was being transported to a treatment centre in the back of the ambulance when she became agitated.

The ambulance driver stopped the vehicle and rushed to help the paramedic in the back, leaving the keys in the ignition.

At that moment, the woman freed herself from a stretcher, jumped into the vehicle’s cab and sped away while the workers were outside the ambulance.

Labelle said the two workers were following protocol, which dictates that workers should exit the vehicle when a patient becomes agitated.

He added that while the driver shouldn’t have left the keys in the ignition, the mistake was understandable given the circumstances.

The woman was stopped by Montreal police a little more than a kilometre away and taken for questioning.

Nobody was hurt during the incident, and police haven’t said whether the woman is facing charges.