Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507240080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: IRON GATE LENGTH: Short
Edward Cary didn't, and he was pulled over by town Sgt. Jim Phillips, even though he had a possible heart attack victim in the back of the ambulance, and later was ticketed for operating an emergency vehicle without activating the siren.
Cary, owner of Republic Ambulance Service of White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., said he was en route to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Salem on Wednesday when Phillips pulled him over.
A report filed by Phillips says the ambulance passed him at 52 mph in a 35 mph zone. The ambulance's emergency lights were on, but the siren was not. The officer said Cary pulled up on the rear of another vehicle until it pulled over but did not turn on the siren as required by law.
Phillips' statement said Cary ``jumped in my face shaking his finger and said, `Don't you ever stop me again.'''
He said he would have taken Cary into custody then, but he did not know the condition of his patient. So he contacted Magistrate Butch Kemper, who charged Phillips with the siren violation and impeding a police officer.
Cary told Iron Gate Town Council that Phillips had no right to stop him.
``If my patient would have died, there would have been a lawsuit against Republic and the town,'' he said. ``This is the first time in 10 years I have been pulled over.''
Cary will be arraigned Monday morning in Alleghany County General District Court.
- Associated Press
Memo: ***CORRECTION***