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The Greenville Police Department made an arrest Wednesday in connection with the theft of an ambulance parked at the Greenville Taco Bell.

Police Chief Justin Lovvorn said the suspect is not a Butler County resident and is believed to have been passing through the area at the time of the theft.The chief said he believes this is an isolated event and there is no cause for alarm, but still encouraged citizens to stay vigilant in any case.

“We don’t have a lot of major crime here [Greenville] but you just can’t say that it won’t happen,” Lovvorn said “Transients come around and they don’t usually cause any problems but you just don’t know people, especially when they’re coming from out of town and they’ve got nowhere to go. You never know what people are going to do.”

According to Lovvorn, the ambulance was from an out of town service, but was unable to release the name of the service at this time. 

Witnesses say the suspect appeared to be inebriated as he entered the unmanned ambulance and proceeded to back into the restaurant before leaving the parking lot and traveling toward the center of Greenville.

The suspect drove the ambulance to North College Street where Greenville police officers stopped the ambulance and apprehended the driver near Stabler Clinic. 

The suspect, whose identity remains unconfirmed, was charged with felony first-degree theft and booked into the Butler County Jail where he is held for this crime as well as warrants from probation violations in Florida. 

This article will be updated as further information becomes available.