By Jeff Muskus
Times-Picayune
Copyright 2007 The Times-Picayune Publishing Company
NEW ORLEANS, La. — “Watch this,” a Slidell teen said his brother told him Tuesday morning, right before he tried to steal a running ambulance.
Bobby Pursley, 17, of 1735 Lynwood Drive, briefly entered the Lifeguard ambulance at about 11 a.m. in the 1500 block of West Hall, where paramedic Julia Brinkman had left it running during a brief stop at her home, police said Wednesday.
Brinkman’s partner, Dana Hall, remained in the ambulance, but police said Pursley snuck behind the steering wheel while Hall was checking the rear of the vehicle.
Police said Hall told them she heard the ambulance door open and close and the gear shift slip into drive before noticing that the driver was not her partner. At that point, police said, she reached forward into the cab and shifted the ambulance back into park. Pursley fled on a bicycle, police said.
Brinkman’s neighbors supplied Pursley’s name, police said. Pursley gave himself up at about 12:30 p.m., shortly after officers arrived at his home, police said. Before Pursley made his presence known, police said, they questioned his brother, who told them Pursley had spotted the ambulance while walking down the street. Police said Pursley told them the hijacking attempt was a joke. He was booked with theft over $500.