Knife wielding bandit hits Myrtle Beach restaurant, steals ambulance, police say
A man is in custody after a crime spree that included stealing an ambulance and breaking into a restaurant, where he robbed an employee while wielding a butcher knife.
Chadi Omer Abdalla, 27, has been charged with assault and battery, grand larceny, armed robbery and more for incidents involving the ambulance and restaurant, which took place on Aug. 12. He is being held at J. Reuben Long Detention Center, with a bond exceeding $100,000.
Myrtle Beach Police responded to the Coral Beach Resort at 1105 South Ocean Blvd. in reference to a disturbance at 5:44 a.m. There, they met an employee at the Sea Level Restaurant who told police Abdalla robbed her.
The employee had been working in the kitchen while listening to something on her phone, when she said Abdalla entered the kitchen wielding a butcher knife. He then began yelling at her and telling her to give him her phone, which he took along with her purse and wallet which hung on a hook in the kitchen, the incident report states.
Officers recovered the phone in the hallway outside the kitchen, but were unable to find the purse and wallet, the report says.
Abdalla was found nearby and later taken into custody.
Officers found that one of the doors to the restaurant had been broken off, and the laundry room door was also damaged during the incident. Abdalla could be seen forcing entry through the door on security camera footage, according to his arrest warrant.
The same day, Abdalla was being taken to the hospital by Horry County Fire Rescue when he started taking the restraints off the gurney he was lying on in the back of the ambulance. The ambulance pulled over to the side of the road to address the situation.
Abdalla then pushed a medic out of the way and exited the ambulance, the incident report states. The medic then observes Abdalla running through a neighborhood and knocking on doors asking for help. He then returned to the ambulance and tried to gain access through the driver’s side door.
When he realized the door was locked, he punched through the glass window and climbed inside.
The keys were already in the ignition and the ambulance was running when Abdalla got inside. The medic then observed Abdalla trying to put the vehicle in drive. The medic was able to reach inside to retrieve the keys from the ignition, after which Abdalla retreated through the window.
Abdalla then ran down Coventry Boulevard, where he was later apprehended, according to the incident report.
