ST. LOUIS, MO (October 4, 2024) — Dwane Vardiman, 49, was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday for resisting arrest and tampering with a motor vehicle. Vardiman was found guilty in June of resisting arrest and tampering with a motor vehicle after stealing an ambulance from a hospital in Jefferson County and leading police on a pursuit through the city on October 3, 2022.

Vardiman had spent the night of October 2, 2022, at Mercy Hospital in Festus for a fentanyl overdose. At 8:30 a.m. the next day, he stole an ambulance belonging to the Valle Ambulance District parked outside the hospital and drove it into St. Louis. Two police officers in a patrol car saw the ambulance heading south on Jefferson Avenue at an excessive rate of speed and began to pursue it with their warning lights and sirens on.

During a 20-minute pursuit, Vardiman sped through heavy morning traffic, running red lights and driving in construction zones. He struck two police cars and one car driven by a civilian. The pursuit ended when police deployed spike strips and deflated his tires.

Vardiman was sentenced to six years for stealing the ambulance and four years for resisting arrest, to be served concurrently, by 22nd Judicial Circuit Judge Theresa C. Burke.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant Circuit Attorneys Andrew Russek and Kerri Davis.

Vardiman’s case number is 2222-CR01494-01.

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