** Former UK combat medic escapes jail time for using police lighting to avoid traffic jams
** Oklahoma man charged with assaulting EMT
UNITED KINGDOM NEWS
** A former combat medic from Northampton will do no jail time, despite using police lighting on his car to avoid traffic jams last July. That is the word from The Metro (Georgia Diebelius/October 11) which said Martin Chapman, 36, admitted to five charges of using a vehicle fitted with a blue warning beacon without permission of the Northampton Crown Court. Chapman, who was caught on closed circuit television video at least 37 times, also copped to dangerous driving, not following road markings x 3, and driving a vehicle without insurance x 5. According to the news site, he originally falsely told police he was using the lighting because he was doing runs for NHS Blood Donation. A judge sentenced him Tuesday to a suspended sentence of 4 months in jail. He was also fined 415 pounds.
UNITED STATES NEWS
** Oklahoma police in Stillwater have charged an area man with assaulting an EMT after he allegedly chased down an ambulance, sparking a confrontation. The Stillwater News Press (Tim Ahrens/October 10) said Faisal Mohammed Alzahrani, 30, has been tagged with assault and battery in relation to the Sunday incident. According to the newspaper, the matter unfolded while medics were transporting Alzahrani’s wife to hospital. When practitioners refused to take his children in the ambulance, he proceeded to erratically follow the rig. When the ambulance stopped at an intersection, he attempted to gain entry via the unit’s back doors. He was impeded by the EMT who placed him in a head lock. Alzahrani’s wife then joined the scuffle and the three ended up outside on the ground. Both Alzahrani and his wife immediately fled in his car. If convicted of assault, he could face up to two years in jail and a $2,000 fine.
