Man arrested after allegedly ramming ambulance carrying patient in Ruskin

Hillsborough County deputies arrested Johnny Arman, 35, after he deliberately rammed an ambulance carrying a patient in Ruskin and sent it into utility boxes and a utility pole. The crash happened June 25 at about 10:50 p.m. on Upper Creek Drive near Galen Court, after Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded to a medical call at a home in the area.

Paramedics were treating a female patient at the residence when Arman became hostile. He repeatedly tried to force his way into the ambulance despite commands to stay back, then got into his vehicle and followed the emergency crew after it left with the patient inside.

Arman used his car to block the ambulance’s path and then accelerated toward it. The ambulance driver tried to avoid a collision, but Arman’s vehicle struck the ambulance and forced it off the roadway. At the time, two Hillsborough County Fire Rescue paramedics and the patient were inside.

The impact knocked the ambulance into multiple utility boxes and a utility pole, causing more than $100,000 in damage. TECO and Spectrum were called to repair the damaged infrastructure. Sheriff Chad Chronister said the suspect’s actions deliberately targeted an ambulance carrying a patient and endangered paramedics, the patient and other motorists.

Arman was charged with two counts of aggravated battery on a firefighter with a deadly weapon, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, two counts of unlawfully impeding, threatening or harassing a first responder, criminal mischief of $1,000 or more and burglary of an authorized emergency vehicle. Officials have not publicly confirmed Arman’s relationship to the female patient, and they have not said whether anyone was injured in the crash.