Convicted Killer Gets Life in Prison After He Ran Over New York City EMT with Stolen Ambulance

A man convicted of running over a New York City first responder with her own ambulance received a life sentence without parole for murder Wednesday.

“I was intoxicated with PCP,” Jose Gonzalez said as he read a statement at his sentencing hearing. “I never knew what was going on … I never meant to hurt anyone. Please forgive me.”

Gonzalez, 31, was convicted last month of killing emergency medical technician Yadira Arroyo in March 2017.

Dispatchers sent Arroyo, 44, to a possible robbery. After she stepped out of the ambulance, authorities say Gonzalez stepped in.

WPIX-TV reports Arroyo was dragged under the ambulance through an intersection. A statement from Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said the vehicle eventually crashed into a snowbank.

An off-duty transit officer who happened to be nearby arrested Gonzalez. Then the suspect began reciting the alphabet.

According to the New York Daily News, Gonzalez had 31 arrests prior to Arroyo's death.

During his murder trial in The Bronx, Gonzalez wore handcuffs inscribed with the words: “In memory of FDNY EMT Y. Arroyo.”

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“These here are the cuffs that held his hands, the hands that killed Yadi,” her aunt, Alida Acevedo, said after the hearing.

Gonzalez's attorneys say they plan to appeal his conviction. The trial was delayed for years due to questions about Gonzalez's mental health.