BOISE, ID – A 43-year-old Boise woman has been arrested in connection with last week’s theft of an ambulance and an alleged attempt to set fire to a Meridian building that houses Department of Homeland Security offices, authorities announced Monday night.

Sarah Elizabeth George was taken into custody Monday after the Meridian Police Department, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, served an arrest warrant and executed a search warrant at her Boise residence shortly before 5 p.m., Meridian Police Chief Tracy Basterrechea announced during a Monday night press conference.

George is facing federal charges.

The arrest follows an incident late Wednesday night, Feb. 18, when a Canyon County Paramedics ambulance was reported stolen from the ambulance bay at St. Luke’s West at approximately 11:10 p.m.

According to police, officers from the Meridian Police Department, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, the Boise Police Department and the Meridian Fire Department responded to a 911 call about the stolen ambulance.

Preliminary investigation indicated the suspect drove the ambulance north through the parking lot and retrieved gas cans that had been staged in nearby vegetation. The suspect then drove the ambulance into the North Portico building, which houses Department of Homeland Security offices.

Investigators believe the suspect poured an accelerant inside and around the outside of the ambulance but was unable to ignite it before being interrupted by responding agencies. There were no reported injuries.

“There has been a lot of rhetoric surrounding the Department of Homeland Security leasing office space at this location,” Basterrechea said. “Comments on social media such as ‘property damage isn’t violence’ is absolutely false. This was absolutely an act of violence, and if the suspect had not been interrupted, there is no doubt this building would have been burned, putting the lives of first responders and others at risk.”