BROOKLYN — A robber tied up a volunteer paramedic and his teenage son at gunpoint Friday morning before swiping cash and car keys, then speeding away with the medic's emergency vehicle in Williamsburg, authorities said.
The paramedic, 51, a member of Hatzolah Volunteer Ambulance Squad of Williamsburg, and his son, 17, were working in a factory on Johnson Avenue when the suspect walked onto the factory floor holding a gun, according to the NYPD.
"He showed a firearm and announced a robbery," a police source stated.
The thief tied up the paramedic and his son, then stole a stack of money and the keys to the medic's Chevrolet Malibu sedan parked outside, according to police and Hatzolah's central office. The vehicle had paramedic license plates registered with the state's Department of Health, as well as narcotics inside, emergency lights and a siren, authorities said.
Police found the car about noon roughly a mile and a half away beneath the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Brooklyn, Hatzolah officials said, although the NYPD could not immediately confirm the recovery.
The suspect, whom police described as a man in his 50s, remained at large.
"We're just happy they're OK," said a Hatzolah member, who asked not to be identified by name. "To us, life is more important than anything. We don't care as long as they're OK. Now it's in the hands of the police."
Hatzolah is an all-volunteer emergency response organization originally founded to serve the Jewish community.
With reporting by Christian McLamb
