Police: WVa man tried to stab, chase ambulance medics

ELKVIEW, W.Va. – A man has been charged with assaulting two West Virginia ambulance medics who were transporting him to a hospital.

Kanawha County Sheriff Mike Rutherford says deputies had found 27-year-old Richard William Thornton of Parkersburg along a road in Elkview on Saturday. While being transported to a hospital in Charleston by ambulance, Thornton removed the straps securing him to a cot.

Rutherford says Thorton then pulled out a knife and tried to stab a medic. The driver stopped and both medics left the ambulance, and Thornton chased after them. He was later located at a convenience store.

Thornton was charged with two counts of attempted murder. He was being held Sunday at the South Central Regional Jail on $100,000 bond. It wasn’t immediately known whether he has an attorney.