Carjacker Pleads Guilty to Stealing Ambulance, Fatal Crash

A Silver Spring man pleaded guilty Wednesday to drunkenly carjacking a Prince George’s County ambulance last year, which he then crashed into 10 vehicles, killing one person.

Sebastian Isaksen, 34, of the 2800 block of Beechbank Drive in Silver Spring, pleaded guilty to carjacking, vehicular manslaughter and causing a life-threatening injury while intoxicated, reports WTOP.

Sentencing guidelines call for Isaksen to spend between four years and 15 years in prison, but prosecutors will ask for 25 years at the January sentencing.

The deadly carjacking happened Dec. 14, 2014, after Isaksen had crashed his vehicle on the Capital Beltway. A Branchville Volunteer Fire Department ambulance crew in the area who saw the accident stopped to help. Isaksen allegedly assaulted the crew and then jumped into the ambulance and drove away, police say.

“The volunteer firefighter/EMTs were visibly shaken but not injured,” said Mark Brady, spokesman for the Prince George’s Fire Department, in a blog post.

The stolen ambulance then went south on Route 495 before exiting onto Kenilworth Avenue and then west on Greenbelt Road. About 15 minutes after the carjacking began, Isaksen caused a multi-vehicle crash, authorities say.

As the ambulance encountered slow-moving traffic on Greenbelt Road it struck three vehicles.

Alvin Hargrave, 77, of Greenbelt, the driver of the first car struck in the initial multi-car collision, died of his injuries at a local hospital. A 36-year-old pregnant woman, who was a passenger in Hargrave’s vehicle, was injured.

The stolen ambulance next careened down an embankment, rolling onto its side while striking at least seven unoccupied vehicles in the parking lot of a Joe’s Crab Shack restaurant.

A total of 11 vehicles were involved in the crashes, including the ambulance. Three people were treated or checked at the scene and did not go to the hospital, Brady says.

Detectives charged Isaksen with carjacking, assault, and charges related to the carjacking.

Isaksen had previously been arrested for alcohol offenses.

»A suspect stole and crashed a Branchville ambulance, killing one person and injuring several. PHOTO from the Prince George’s County Fire Department/Mark Brady Photo of Sebastian Isaksen, 34, of Silver Spring from PGCPD