Autopsy: Ambulance driver who crashed had cocaine in system

BELLWOOD, Ill. – An autopsy report shows that an ambulance driver had cocaine in his bloodstream when he crashed into a suburban Chicago building, killing himself, a co-worker and a patient.

Television station WLS reports that the Cook County medical examiner’s office found 51-year-old emergency medical technician James Wesley also had significant cardiac disease at the time of the March 31 crash in Bellwood. The autopsy couldn’t determine whether a heart attack or cocaine intoxication led to the crash.

Wesley died instantly in the crash, and 50-year-old emergency medical technician Prentis Williams and 48-year-old dialysis patient Larry Marshall Jr. were also killed.

County officials say the ambulance was unlicensed. A lawyer for the now-defunct ambulance company says Wesley took the vehicle without permission and apparently freelanced scheduled patient transports.

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Information from: WLS-TV.