Woman who crashed SF ambulance arrested again on burglary charge

Veronica Barahona, 37, was arrested for at least the second time in a month on June 19. Veronica Barahona, 37, was arrested for at least the second time in a month on June 19. Photo: San Francisco Police Department / S.F. Police Department Photo: San Francisco Police Department / S.F. Police Department Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Woman who crashed SF ambulance arrested again on burglary charge 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

A 37-year-old woman who went to jail after allegedly stealing a San Francisco ambulance this month was arrested again Sunday night — this time on suspicion of burglary in the Bayview neighborhood.

Veronica Barahona forced herself through the sliding glass door of a home on the 1700 block of McKinnon Avenue around 10:20 p.m. Sunday, police said. She made her way into a bedroom, where the homeowner was awakened and started screaming.

Barahona fled out of the home but was arrested after the homeowner called authorities to tell them she was hiding in the backyard, police said. She was booked on a first-degree burglary charge.

Sunday’s incident comes less than two weeks after Barahona led police on a chase in a stolen ambulance that went through the city, onto the Bay Bridge, and ended when she crashed on Yerba Buena Island.

On June 7, she jumped into the San Francisco Fire Department’s emergency rig around 8 a.m. at 55 Mason St. and sped through city streets, said Officer Grace Gatpandan, a San Francisco police spokeswoman.

The ambulance had been left running while paramedics responded to a medical call at the Ambassador Hotel, and when they returned with the patient, the rig was gone.

Police used a tracking system on the vehicle to pinpoint the driver as she careened through city streets and slammed into several vehicles. Barahona led police on a chase over the bottom deck of the Bay Bridge, police said, where she took a hard left turn on the Treasure Island Road off-ramp.

But a sharp curve in the road proved too challenging to negotiate, and she slammed into a concrete barrier, firefighters said.

The ambulance became stuck and burst into flames as Barahona got out and ran, police said. She was taken into custody.

It was not immediately clear when Barahona was released from jail before the Sunday burglary.

She was booked into county jail on the recent charges early Monday and was being held on $150,000 bail.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Evan Sernoffsky contributed to this report.

Jenna Lyons is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jlyons@sfchronicle.com Twitter: JennaJourno