Really grand theft auto

I know we're not talking about the smartest (or quite possibly sanest) person here, but if you're trying to steal a vehicle, you should probably find something a little less conspicuous:

Police arrested a homeless man they say tried to steal a South Salt Lake firetruck so he could drive to Washington to see his mother.

Firefighters were on a medical call near 200 East and 3000 South a little before 11:30 a.m. when they heard the air horn on their fire engine blaring, said South Salt Lake police detective Gary Keller.

Two firefighters ran outside to find a man in the driver's seat of their $500,000 fire engine trying to drive away. He first started to drive in reverse and almost hit an ambulance, said South Salt Lake Fire Chief Steve Foote. Then as the man attempted to drive forward, the firefighters jumped into the cab to try to stop him.

The firefighters and the firetruck thief got into a physical confrontation before the firemen were able to put the truck in neutral and set the air brake. The firetruck traveled about 50 feet before firefighters were able to bring it to a stop, Foote said.

[...]

The man, 25, told police he was just trying to get back to Washington "to see his mom on Christmas," Keller said. Drugs or alcohol were believed to be factors, he said.

No, really?

Needless to say, he won't be making it back to Washington for Christmas. Or for quite a while after that, probably.