Charges have been dropped against the Chapel Hill man who stole and wrecked an ambulance in April, but the story doesn’t end there.

On April 1, Orange County EMS workers arrived at the home of Patrick Akos in response to a call for emergency treatment. But while paramedics were treating him, Akos jumped up, ran from the house and stole an ambulance, hitting several cars and a fire truck before wrecking the vehicle at the end of his quiet suburban street.

Though Akos originally faced charges for felonious theft, hit and run and reckless driving, Orange County Assistant District Attorney Jeff Nieman says all charges were dropped once the details of the case came out.

“After reviewing the medical documentation, we realized we really couldn’t prove he had the requisite criminal intent to have committed larceny or even reckless driving. He did make many affirmative steps to pay restitution to the damaged parties in the neighborhood where he drove the vehicle, so in the interests of justice we decided to dismiss all the charges.

Nieman he had an early inkling that this wouldn’t be a run-of-the mill case after he got a call from the arresting officer.

“He said, “I looked in this man’s eyes right after all this stuff had happened, and I don’t think he had any idea what he had just done.’”

Attorney Mike Paduchowski represents Patrick Akos. He says Akos was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 40 and is still coming to terms with his condition.

Paduchowski says Akos not only suffered a complex partial seizure on that April morning, but also experienced a condition called postictal behavior.

“The Epilepsy Foundation says essentially your body goes into auto-pilot… The person is totally unaware of what happened and when consciousness finally returns, they have no memory of what occurred during the seizure.”

The postictal phase can last up to several hours after a seizure.

Because of the medical diagnosis, Akos is not legally responsible for the damages to property and vehicles. But Paduchowski says Akos felt he owed it to his neighbors to make amends.

“Patrick, being a member of the Chapel Hill community, actually did go door to door as soon as he was out of the hospital and recovered. He went to his neighbors, explained what had happened… and had people come out to their lawns to repair the landscaping.”

Akos has paid for the landscaping out of his own pocket.

Paduchowski says Akos has received an outpouring of support from both his neighbors and UNC, where he is employed as an associate professor at the School of Education.

“UNC-Chapel Hill has been extremely supportive of his medical condition. They’re working with him to give him the time that he needs to get his treatment corrected and they were very helpful with allowing him the time and support to get the damages taken care of. UNC-Chapel Hill really went above and beyond to support Patrick in all this.”

Meanwhile, the insurance companies are still wrangling over who will cover the costs for the wrecked ambulance and damaged vehicles.