LANCASTER — Police have identified and charged the driver accused of jumping a stolen pickup truck off the back of a flatbed and crashing on Queen Street in downtown Lancaster Monday.
According to Lancaster Police, Roberto Ramirez, 29, of Wilmington, Delaware, was charged with receiving stolen property, resisting arrest, two counts of recklessly endangering another person, seven counts of accidents involving unattended vehicle or property, reckless driving, and obedience to traffic control devices.
Ramirez was medically cleared after spending Monday night at Lancaster General Hospital for evaluation of a possible head injury. He was transported to the Lancaster Bureau of Police Station for processing after his release, police say.
The incident occurred at 10 a.m. Monday on the 100 block of South Queen Street, police say.
Police dispatched to the scene for the report of a crash found a pickup truck on its side, with paint spilled over the vehicle’s interior and the surrounding roadway. Several parked vehicles at the scene sustained damage.
Witnesses told police that the pickup’s driver, later identified as Ramirez, attempted to walk away from the scene before bystanders walked him back. He was covered from head to toe in wet paint, police say. Police observed that Ramirez was acting in an agitated and erratic manner, but they weren’t sure if he had suffered an injury or was under the influence of a substance.
Police say officers attempted to subdue Ramirez to keep him from moving around, in the event he had injured himself in the crash. But Ramirez allegedly resisted, managed to slip out of one of the handcuffs on his wrist, and attempted to flee before he was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for evaluation.
Police later discovered the pickup truck Ramirez was driving was reported stolen out of New Castle County, DE.
According to police, the flatbed truck was parked on Queen Street because a piece of excavating equipment had been unloaded on the block. The left lane of the 100 block of South Queen Street was blocked for the truck, and a flagger was on the scene to divert traffic.
According to police, Ramirez drove past the flagger at a high rate of speed in the right lane, then attempted to change lanes to the left lane. He then drove up the back of the flatbed truck like it was a ramp, went airborne, and landed upright in the left lane. The pickup truck then struck two parked vehicles on the east side of South Queen Street, flipped onto its side, spun 180 degrees, and struck another car parked on the west side of the street before coming to rest. Several other vehicles at the scene were damaged by debris and/or paint, police say.
