Florida Patient Loses Patience, Steals Ambulance to Get Home

A Florida emergency room patient got so fed up waiting to be seen by a doctor, that he stole an ambulance to get home, according to the Lake County Sheriffs Office.

On March 6 in Lady Lake, Danny Konieczny’s neighbor called 911, reporting Konieczny as drunk and suicidal. First responders arrived and took him to The Villages Hospital. Konieczny waited two hours before losing patience, so he walked out and took an ambulance home by himself. He drove the 5.7 miles back to his house.

When he got home, Konieczny parked the vehicle across the street, in front of his neighbor’s house because he thought they were the ones who called 911. Police tracked Konieczny back to his house, where they found him hiding in the trunk of his car.

According to FOX35, the arrest affidavit says Konieczny admitted to his misdeeds. He also told them he checked to make sure no one was inside the ambulance when he stole it.

“I’ve been doing this for 21 years in Lake County. I think it’s the first I heard of this,” St. Fred Jones told Fox35. “You’re taken to the hospital, because you’re drunk and now you’re in the ambulance you’ve just stolen to go back ot your house. This could have been bad.”

Konieczny is being held without bond on a probation violation. He was also charged with grand theft.

According to Villages-News, the 60-year-old was sentenced in May 2017 to 12 months probation for a Jan. 23, 2017 drunk driving arrest. His driver’s license was also suspended for six months.

Before the 2017 arrest, Konieczny was seen driving into oncoming traffic at an intersection. He told officers he was drinking before driving, but refused to take field sobriety tests. He claimed his home address was in Aurora, Illinois.

Just last week, police in Pittsburgh said a man stole an ambulance parked outside PPG Paints Arena, while a first responder was helping a person inside the venue. According to the Associated Press, the suspect crashed the ambulance into an SUV and was charged with DUI, reckless endangerment and theft. Two people in the SUV were hospitalized.

In another case, 44-year-old Dayton, Ohio resident Jeffrey Brown was accused of stealing an ambulance while a medic and a patient were still inside in October 2017. According to FOX54-Now, Brown was indicted for kidnapping, and also charged with grand theft and failure to comply with police. Authorities said Brown saw the keys in the ignition, jumped into the vehicle and drove off with the two people inside.