Hospital patient escapes in ambulance

GOODYEAR, Ariz. - Authorities say a patient wanting out of an Arizona hospital used an ambulance as his getaway vehicle.

Goodyear police spokeswoman Lisa Kutis says Michael Lopez hijacked a parked ambulance Sunday outside West Valley Hospital in metro Phoenix, and that a firefighter sitting in the back was able to jump out safely.

Police pursued Lopez, who failed to pull over.

Authorities used a GPS to locate the vehicle and Lopez at his home in the suburb of Avondale.

Kutis says he was arrested on charges of theft of means of transportation, felony flight, failure to yield to police and disorderly conduct.

She says Lopez, who felt he was being hospitalized against his will, was being booked into a Phoenix jail, and she didn't know why he'd been hospitalized.

The ambulance was returned to firefighters.