Man accused of stealing ambulance from Virginia hospital released on bond days after arrest

The patient accused of stealing an ambulance from a Virginia hospital where he was being treated after a crash was released on bond just days after a massive manhunt led to his arrest.

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. - The 32-year-old Manassas man arrested for stealing an Inova Fairfax Hospital ambulance while still in a hospital gown with an IV connected, was just released on bond, Monday, February 26th.

Rickey Lowe, 32, led police on a several-day manhunt, after stealing the ambulance on February 19th.

Earlier that same day, police said Lowe was one of five people in a stolen car that went airborne and crashed on Route 50 and Interstate 66.

The driver of the stolen car was arrested and charged. However, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said FOX 5’s air, Lowe had not actually been charged yet. Therefore, he was not under police watch while receiving treatment at Fairfax Hospital for the crash. That’s when police say he stole the ambulance.

Hospital patient in medical gown, IV in arm steals ambulance: Fairfax County police (Fairfax County Police / @FairfaxCountyPD)

Police later found the emergency vehicle abandoned in Annandale. They arrested Lowe on February 23 in Manassas.
We were originally told he had been held without bond but Chief Davis said Lowe had actually been released on Monday.

"It took us a couple of days to catch up with him. He's a big guy. You’d think we'd find him pretty quickly in his hospital gown with an IV hanging out of his arm, but it took us a couple of days," said Davis, live on FOX 5.

Laura Birnbaum, Chief of Staff and Spokesperson for the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office confirms Lowe was seen by a Magistrate on February 26th, who set Lowe’s Bond at $2,000. He’s facing Grand Larceny and Auto Theft charges in connection to the stolen ambulance.

"Our office cannot comment on the specifics of this case, which is ongoing and in early stages. As a general matter, the problem with cash bond is that it transforms crucial detain-or-release decisions into a matter of economics, completely divorced from the question of public safety," wrote Birnbaum in an official statement.

Lowe is scheduled to appear in court again for a preliminary hearing in May. We do not know whether any other charges are pending in connection with the stolen vehicle that crashed.

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It’s also not clear whether Lowe had to pay the full $2,000 or a percentage of that bond in order to be released.

He has prior drug and firearm-related arrests in Prince William County. The home listed in his record is not a correct address.