Hours before a stolen ambulance was driven into a federal building in Meridian, Idaho, surveillance cameras at a nearby Walmart allegedly captured the woman accused of the crash buying the gasoline cans investigators say she later used in an attempt to set the building on fire.
A Night Documented Almost Entirely on Camera
Authorities say the incident unfolded in stages on the night of February 18. A receipt time-stamped 9:17 p.m. shows the 43-year-old suspect purchasing two red gasoline cans and lighter fluid at a Walmart self-checkout, and later footage from a fuel station allegedly shows her filling those cans — with a rewards card registered in her name used during the purchase. Around 11 p.m., police say she took a Canyon County Paramedics ambulance from outside St. Luke’s Hospital Emergency Center and drove it directly into the entryway of the Portico North building, which houses a U.S. Department of Homeland Security office.
What Investigators Say Happened After the Crash
According to the arrest affidavit, gasoline was poured both inside the ambulance and across the building’s lobby floor in what authorities describe as an attempt to ignite a fire. No one inside the building was injured, and the fire never fully took hold. A Meridian police dash camera allegedly captured the suspect walking away from the scene shortly afterward, with additional surveillance footage showing her getting into a pickup truck and leaving the area.
How Investigators Closed In Within Days
Meridian police canvassed the area for surveillance footage and interviewed witnesses, with Idaho State Police and the ATF assisting in gathering evidence. That coordinated, multi-agency effort led to an arrest within days of the incident — a relatively fast turnaround that reflects how much of the case was built from the string of surveillance footage capturing the suspect’s movements that night.
The Federal Charges She Now Faces
Court documents show the suspect has been charged with attempted destruction of federal property by fire and malicious destruction of property used in or affecting interstate commerce by fire, each carrying a potential sentence of five to 20 years in prison along with possible fines. Investigators have also noted that the suspect had social media activity that included provocative imagery posted before the incident, though authorities have not detailed how, if at all, that factors into the case. As with any pending federal case, the charges represent allegations that have not yet been proven in court.
The suspect remains in custody as the case moves forward, and authorities haven’t said whether additional state charges tied to the vehicle theft itself will follow.