Northland man raids ambulance while medics attend to family member, say police

The stolen iPad would have been useless to anyone but St John staff. Photo / File.

A Northland man has been arrested for allegedly stealing from an ambulance while medics were at his house saving a family member's life.

Mid North Senior Sergeant Brian Swann said St John Ambulance was called to a medical emergency on Pembroke St in Moerewa just after midnight on Thursday.

Ambulance staff were giving potentially life-saving treatment to a patient suffering a seizure when a man at the address entered the ambulance and allegedly helped himself to an iPad.

Medics called police when they discovered the iPad worth $1100 was missing.

An 18-year-old man was arrested and charged with theft. He appeared in the Kaikohe District Court later that day and was released on bail. He is due back in court on June 13.

Swann said the theft defied belief.

"I find it unbelievable that someone would take an important piece of equipment from medical staff while they are helping that person's family member."

St John Far North manager Ben Lockie said the theft was "very disappointing".

"Staff were there trying to help somebody - that's what we do - so for someone to take advantage of that is quite disgusting."

The iPad was recovered within half an hour.

Even if the tablet had not been recovered it would have been useless to anyone but St John.

The devices could be tracked and disabled remotely so the thief would have been left with nothing but an expensive paperweight, Lockie said.

In 2012 thieves raided an ambulance while paramedics worked on a patient in Whangarei and stole a $40,000 defibrillator along with other first aid equipment.

A police dog found the defibrillator after it was thrown over a fence. It had to be sent away for recalibration, depriving Whangarei of a life-saving machines while tests were carried out to ensure it was still working properly.

Northland St John manager Tony Devanney said the stupidity of a few people who had taken the machine could have led to someone's death.