Stolen ambulance drives into Boise-area building just leased to Homeland Security

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A stolen ambulance was driven early Thursday into a Meridian building where the Department of Homeland Security is leasing office space, prompting a large police response, the Meridian Police Department said.

The incident started around 12:30 a.m. at the Portico North building, Patrol Lt. Brandon Frasier said in an email to news media. The six-story office building, at the southeast corner of Eagle and Franklin roads, is owned by St. Luke’s Health System, whose Meridian hospital is one block south.

A Canyon County Paramedics ambulance was stolen from St. Luke’s Meridian Medical Center, according to Jordan Robinson, a spokesperson with the Meridian Police Department. Robinson said the suspect then drove the ambulance into the Portico North building.

Police say no other individuals were inside the ambulance or inside the building. Authorities also searched the building overnight and found no suspect, Frasier said. There are no reported injuries to people, he said.

Law enforcement continues to investigate the incident.

Homeland Security includes Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The U.S. General Services Administration, which leases office space for federal agencies, told the Idaho Statesman on Feb. 11 that it is leasing space for ICE to meet the agency’s work-space needs. The building is not used for clinical care, St. Luke’s told the Statesman.

The lease was agreed to last fall, St. Luke’s told the Statesman, but the deal wasn’t publicly known until last week.

“GSA is committed to working with all of our partner agencies, including our patriotic law enforcement partners such as ICE, to meet their workspace needs,” the GSA spokesperson told the Statesman last week by email.

It’s unknown when the U.S. government planned to start using the building or if it already had.

Police began reopening adjoining roads to traffic before 6 a.m. in anticipation of the morning commute.