04/13/11 05:26PM

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By Freda Kahen-Kashi

The man who police say commandeered an Orange County Ambulance had his first court appearance on Tuesday.

40-year old Patrick Thomas Akos is an associate professor of education at UNC.  Akos was treated by EMS after suffering a seizure on April 1.  Police say he subsequently drove off in the ambulance and hit several cars in the process. 

Orange County assistant district attorney Jeff Nieman says the county has a lot of factors to take into consideration.

“It’s a serious case and we’ll be examining the medical issues as well as looking at the damage that was done and doing what we can to make sure that that is compensated,” he says.


Akos is charged with felony larceny of a vehicle, one count of reckless driving, and six counts of hit and run.

It’s too soon to talk specifics, but Nieman was able to sketch out what the next few weeks might look like.

“We’ll look at the case, we’ll review the reports of the charging officer, and discuss the case with the attorney and at that point we will decide how we’re gonna proceed and on what charges.


Akos and his attorney will meet with Nieman sometime in the next few weeks.