Police hunt driver who refused to let ambulance pass and abused paramedics attending emergency
KEY POINTS
- Police seek man who drove dangerously and verbally abused ambulance staff.
- Suspect slowed down to delay ambulance responding to call in London.
- Driver believed to have become angry after paramedics allegedly swore at him.
Police are appealing for information to trace a man accused of deliberately delaying an ambulance on its way to an emergency call and then verbally abusing the paramedics.
The London Ambulance Service (LAS) crew was responding to an emergency call to assist an elderly woman suffering from an acute illness.
When they stopped on Central Road near the junction with Green Lane in Worcester Park, south-west London, a vehicle believed to be a Honda CR-V pulled up behind them. The driver of the car got out, approached the driver's side door and hurled abuse at the male and female ambulance staff.
He accused them of swearing at him earlier when he did not get out of their way as they drove with lights and sirens on along Worcester Park High Street, it is understood. The ambulance crew claim he had deliberately driven slowly in front of them.
The driver of the Honda is described as white, aged in his 40s or 50s and around 5ft 6ins in height. He may have been wearing a green jacket, with dark trousers and white trainers.
Sgt John Bouchard, of Sutton Borough Police, said: "The CCTV is not of good quality. It is possible that the image, combined with the man's link to the Honda, may enable somebody to identify him.
"In the meantime, officers will be working to trace higher-quality CCTV from buses and information from Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems to identify the suspect and the car.
"I would urge the man responsible to come forward and speak to police. This is a shocking incident where a member of the emergency services was unjustly abused while on shift, and I would like to think this man will come forward and take responsibility for his actions."
London Ambulance Service team leader Katie Vallis said: "It is completely unacceptable for our staff to suffer verbal abuse from members of the public when they are trying to do their job. Thankfully, on this occasion, our crew was not injured, but as a service, we will not tolerate this type of behaviour."
