Monday, April 11, 2011

** North Carolina university professor charged in ambulance theft;court date set for today

** New York EMT pleads not guilty to leaving kids home alone while answering EMS call

UNITED STATES NEWS

** A Chapel Hill, North Carolina university educator is set to appear in court today on charges he stole an ambulance April 1, crashing into several vehicles. The McClatchy News Service (April 8) said Thomas Akos, 40, who is an associate professor at the UNC School of Education, has been charged with felonious larceny of a vehicle, careless and reckless driving, and six counts of hit and run. Akos, who hailed EMS to his address, made off with the unit just after medics began treating him for what police said was a seizure. Running from his home, he jumped into the ambulance, first hitting a parked car and a fire truck, before smashing into three other stationary vehicles. He then drove across several lawns, damaging greenery and Times Warner cable boxes, before crashing into another parked vehicle on a dead end road. Apprehended at the site, he was released on a promise to appear.

** A Holley, New York EMT, who left his young children home alone last month while he answered an EMS call, has pleaded not guilty to endangering the welfare of a child. WHEC (April 7) said Richard Fiorito entered his plea Thursday, despite earlier apparently admitting his error. According to the news site, Fiorioto was charged after his ex-wife discovered no one was watching their 4-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. An ex-firefighter, the woman heard Fiorito’s voice on the emergency radio and alerted police. Fiorito, meanwhile, has been suspended from the Holley Ambulance Corps.