Northville Township, MI – A 33-year-old man is facing multiple charges after police say he stole an ambulance with a patient and paramedic inside and sparked a crash on Friday.

Novi Police Chief Erick Zinser identified the suspect as Changlin Li of Novi. Li is charged with one count of carjacking, one count of fleeing and eluding, two counts of assaulting, resisting and obstructing police, two counts of attempting to disarm a police officer and one count of carrying a concealed weapon.

Officers responded to a one-vehicle rollover at Novi and 10 Mile roads around 3:15 p.m. The injured driver was being treated inside the back of a Medstar ambulance when a first responder “yelled out” that a man was stealing the ambulance.

Police say officers pursued Li as he drove at times over 70 mph, passed through a construction zone, blew a tire and then “disregarded a traffic signal” at Eight Mile and Beck roads, causing a GMC Yukon to collide with the ambulance.

A 72-year-old Plymouth man in the GMC was hospitalized with a dislocated shoulder and broken ribs. Li allegedly tried to flee and attempted to seize an officer’s gun; officers recovered a knife on him and later say he again tried to take a holstered gun while at the hospital.

On Saturday, Oct. 27, a judge set Li’s bond at $5 million. His next hearing is Nov. 3.

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