A man wanted for stealing a state emergency vehicle and driving it onto the Atlantic City Boardwalk was arrested Tuesday.
Patrick Ford, 31, of Clementon, entered the N.J. EMS Task Force vehicle Monday, while it was in a parking lot at Harrah's Atlantic City, Sgt. Kevin Fair said.
Ford struck several parked vehicles and objects, causing extensive damage, according to the report.
He then went onto the Boardwalk at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard by breaking a gate, and then exited at Iowa Avenue, an investigation found.
Ford was arrested by Sgt. Craig Mulhern on the Boardwalk at Arkansas Avenue on Tuesday.
An officer was flagged won at 9:38 p.m. Monday, by someone who said they saw the vehicle being driven on the Boardwalk before the driver parked it on the beach block of Iowa Avenue, and walked away.
Detectives investigating the theft obtained a surveillance photograph of Ford, whose identity at the time was unknown, and it distributed to officers.
Mulhern identified Ford from based off of the flyer.
He is charged with theft and two counts of criminal mischief, and is in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
Additional charges are pending further investigation.
Ford was released from the Garden State Youth Correctional Facility in November, after maxing out on a five-year prison sentence on weapons charges, records show.
Photo from state Department of Corrections.
