US man accused of stealing ambulance to drive to stolen car court hearing | US crime

An Oklahoma man who couldn't find a ride to a criminal court hearing because he was accused of stealing a car compounded his legal jeopardy by stealing an emergency services truck and driving himself to the courthouse, authorities allege.

The bizarre case centers on Kody Adams, who was recently at a gas station in Stillwater Township and asked passersby if they would drive him to Pawnee – about 30 minutes away – so he could attend a court hearing there, like the Oklahoma Highway Patrol tells it.

Adams faces charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, the state highway patrol said in a Sept. 27 Facebook post. And when no one could bring him, he commandeered an emergency dispatcher's pickup truck, which had been left both running and unattended, and Adams drove it to Pawnee, the highway patrol's Preston Cox told Oklahoma news station KOCO.

According to the department, he abandoned the pickup truck, showed up in court – and was arrested by a patrol officer as he entered the courthouse for his hearing.

Officer Ryan Long accompanied Adams to his court date. But then Long also took Adams to jail and put him on new charges after Adam allegedly said he was just “borrowing” the pickup.

“This is one you don't see every day,” the highway patrol post about Adams' arrest said.

Facebook users flooded the highway patrol's post about Adams with comments mocking the cost of the arrest.

“At least he tried,” was one of the more typical comments.

Another added: “I've been dealing with this issue for almost 30 years now. I always tell people, no matter what happens, make sure you show up for your court date. This guy may have taken it a little too far.”

But others expressed sympathy for Adams. One said it was wrong to “laugh at him for trying to do the right thing” when faced with a “lose-lose” situation.

“Our justice system is such a joke,” said one user, who criticized the Oklahoma Highway Patrol for allegedly deciding to “make a meme out of someone suffering.”

“Judge not, lest you be judged,” this user also noted.