A 29-year-old man is in police custody after allegedly stealing an ambulance from an Ontario hospital and leading officers on a five-hour, 400-kilometre chase before they were able to stop the rogue emergency vehicle with a spike strip near a popular beach town.

The suspect is said to have jumped into the driver’s side of the ambulance while it was stopped in the parking lot of Cambridge Memorial Hospital in Cambridge, Ont. -- about 100 kilometres west of Toronto.

Waterloo Region’s chief of paramedic services, Stephen Van Valkenburg, said a paramedic was sitting in the passenger side of the ambulance filling out paperwork with the keys in the ignition when the suspect approached and entered the vehicle.

“She’d seen someone kind of lurking around the other ambulance and just as she went to lock the door, he opened the door,” he told CTV Kitchener on Sunday. “He jumped in, started the vehicle up, at which time she exited the vehicle and started yelling that somebody was stealing the ambulance.”

The suspect is said to have run over a sign while speeding out of the parking lot. Three police departments were involved in the lengthy northward pursuit towards cottage country.

Police said the driver refused multiple requests to pull over. Officers at one point attempted to intercept the ambulance, but decided to keep their distance in the interest of public safety.

“The fact that this occurred overnight was a saving grace. It did allow police to follow from a safe distance,” Ontario Provincial Police acting Staff Sgt. Peter Leon told CTV Toronto.

He said the driver activated the ambulance’s sirens on several occasions as officers tailed the vehicle. Leon called the pursuit “extremely dangerous,” noting that ambulances have equipment capable of automatically changing traffic signals, and drivers are instructed to give emergency vehicles the right of way.

“This is an emergency vehicle that people are used to seeing on the roadway transporting people from a serious incident to a hospital for urgent care,” he said. “We certainly incorporated that into the manner in which we were able to get this vehicle stopped.”

OPP officers were eventually able to stop the vehicle with a spike belt. They said the driver was arrested near Wasaga Beach, Ont., without incident. He has been charged with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle, possession of stolen property, and flight from police.

Waterloo Regional Police are investigating how the suspect gained access to the ambulance and conducting an inventory to make sure no medical supplies or drugs are missing. The damage to the ambulance is said to be minor, with the exception of at least two blown tires.

Van Valkenburg said thefts of ambulances are rare and typically occur when the vehicles are left idling. He also said the paramedic involved followed the correct procedures.

“She did the right thing by exiting the vehicle and not trying to wrestle him or anything like that,” he said.

With a report from CTV Toronto’s John Mussleman