Car Hits Ambulance Outside Wise Avenue VFC, One Killed: Police

DUNDALK, MD — A man died after the car he was riding in crashed into an ambulance outside the Wise Avenue Volunteer Fire Company, according to the Baltimore County Police Department. Police said three people were injured, including two medics and the driver of the car, who has since been charged with driving under the influence.

James Franklin Pettie III, 30, of the 1700 block of Melbourne Road, was pronounced deceased at a local hospital, officials said. He had been a passenger in the 2012 Hyundai Accent involved in the crash.

Before midnight on Friday, Jan. 26, officials said that police responded to the 200 block of Wise Avenue for a crash at the Wise Avenue Volunteer Fire Company.

A car had hit the rear driver's side of the ambulance as it was returning to the station and backing up into its parking area there, according to police, who said the Hyundai Accent had been headed west on Wise Avenue.

Eastbound traffic on Wise Avenue was stopped as the ambulance, which had turned its emergency lights on east of the station after passing Park Drive, tried to back up, officials from the fire company reported.

The Accent was traveling at a high rate of speed on the 30 mph road, according to the fire company, which said that the ambulance was spun around 90 degrees upon being hit.

The crew "although shaken up themselves...exited the ambulance and began rendering assistance to the two occupants of the Hyundai," the Wise Avenue Volunteer Fire Company reported.

After additional personnel from Dundalk and Wise Avenue fire companies arrived, the two who had been aboard the ambulance were taken to Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center. They were released after being treated for injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, according to officials.

The two people in the Hyundai were also taken to Bayview, where police said Pettie was pronounced deceased at 12:20 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 27. Police said the car's driver has been charged with driving under the influence.

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