Stolen Ambulance Leads to Arrest for Kidnapping and Assault

Around noon on Saturday, October 19th, the Clearcreek Township Firefighters located on East Lytle Five Points Road returned from a call to a car fire to find that their vehicle bay had been broken into and an ambulance had been stolen.

Around 1 pm, the ambulance was located at the Dayton Children's Hospital without any damage.  The unidentified 22 year old man responsible for stealing the ambulance had driven to the hospital in hopes of receiving treatment.  As of Monday morning, it was reported that he was still in the hospital.

When speaking with authorities, he said that he had been held against his will at a residence across the street from the fire department where he had been assaulted over the course of several days.  He admitted to stealing the ambulance to aid in his escape.

He explained that an ex-girlfriend led him to believe that she was being held against her will at the residence, so he believed that he was showing up to help her out.  When he arrived though, he reported that he was forced into the residence by an individual where he was confined in a dog kennel and abused for three or four days.

Taking his testimony and the signs of physical abuse present on his body, including cuts, burns, rope burns, and bruising, into account, authorities obtained a search warrant for the home which was executed on Saturday night.

While it has not been disclosed what exactly the search warrant revealed at the residence, 38 year old Christopher Edwards was taken unto custody and charged, preliminary, with kidnapping and felonious assault. On October 22nd, an additional charge for parole violation was filed against him.  He is being held at the Warren County Jail, and his next court date is scheduled for October 29th.

Police are continuing to investigate this matter, and have not ruled out whether or not there were more people involved in the abuse and confinement of the unnamed male.

Edwards was not on the lease at the rental property, and it seems that his daughter was not in the home at the time of the kidnapping and abuse.  Authorities are working to determine whether or not children of the woman who is named on the lease were present.

Edwards previously found his name in the papers when, in 2016, the mother of his child, Brittany Russell, was found dead in a vehicle with his daughter in the back seat.  Police never named Edwards as a suspect and later, two individuals were charged and convicted concerning the murder in 2017.