Texas police jailed a Fort Hood-based soldier early Tuesday morning after he allegedly followed up his arrest for public intoxication by firing a shotgun locked inside a patrol car, escaping that car and stealing a nearby ambulance, then wrecking the ambulance.
Spc. Taylor Patterson, 22, remained in Bell County Jail as of Wednesday afternoon, according to the jail's website. He's assigned to 615th Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, a Fort Hood spokesman said; the unit "will closely monitor the proceedings."
Tuesday morning's proceedings began with a 4 a.m. response by Harker Heights police officers to reports that an individual was unresponsive in a parked vehicle, according to KCEN-TV and other local media reports.
Police reportedly took Patterson into custody under suspicion of public intoxication, handcuffing his hands behind his back and placing him in the back of a patrol car. Patterson reportedly escaped his seat belt, got his hands out from behind his back and opened a locked screen designed to separate the suspect from his escorts.
He then unsuccessfully attempted to free the vehicle's shotgun from its locked rack, per media reports, squeezing off a round in the process. After a failed try at stealing the the patrol car, he instead jumped into an ambulance that had responded to the call, police said.
Still in handcuffs, Patterson hit several police vehicles with the ambulance before reaching U.S. Route 190, where he crashed into a pole.
Neither he nor anyone else was injured; jail records show the ordeal ended with Patterson's booking at 5:30 a.m.
