Man Charged With Stealing Wilmington Ambulance Has Violent Past

JOLIET, IL — The 58-year-old man charged with stealing a Wilmington Fire Department ambulance from the AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center has an extensive criminal history outside of Will County, public records show.

The Will County State's Attorney's Office has formally charged Henry McCall with two counts of aggravated possession of a stolen motor vehicle, a 2015 Ford F-550 ambulance, and one count of aggravated fleeing or attempting to elude a peace officer.

McCall's bail has been set at $80,000, and he remained in custody on Friday, unable to post the necessary 10 percent to regain his freedom.

Around 12:45 a.m. on July 1, a Joliet police officer spotted the stolen Wilmington ambulance racing down Barney Drive and turning onto West Jefferson Street.

With the Joliet police in pursuit, the thief sped west along Jefferson Street until crashing the ambulance into someone's car, striking a concrete median. The Wilmington ambulance rolled over and went down the ditch at the frontage road along Interstate 55, near Shorewood.

Minutes later, Joliet police captured 58-year-old Henry F. McCall, who lives in the 1600 Theodore Street.

At McCall's first court hearing, a Will County judge informed McCall that he must abstain from alcohol and marijuana in the event he posts bail. The judge also told him that he is forbidden from driving a vehicle.

McCall has no prior criminal history in Will County, a review of court records show. However, McCall has had an extensive criminal history in other places, including in Chicago, where he previously resided for many years.

McCall's criminal convictions from Cook County include a 2001 case involving unlawful vehicular invasion, aggravated vehicular hijacking and aggravated unlawful hijacking with a weapon. Around 2006, McCall was convicted in Cook County of robbery, aggravated battery-harm to a merchant and retail theft. McCall also had criminal convictions involving animal cruelty from around 2012.