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A university student has been charged amid claims he stole an ambulance and took it on a 13-mile joyride while high on drugs - and then pleasured himself in a police cell.

Stefan Sortland, 18, is said to have taken cocaine and MDMA at a Halloween party before taking the emergency vehicle and crashing it.

He's also accused of attacking police officers and performing a solo sex act while he was being held in custody.

Police said paramedics were treating an intoxicated student for seizures at the Colorado State University campus when the ambulance was stolen.

The ambulance had a GPS system and was tracked to the town of Loveland, 15 miles away, where officers found it in the middle of a road with heavy damage.

It appeared Sortland had taken the vehicle before crashing into a sign, driving it the wrong way and bringing it to a halt after crossing a barrier.

Officers found Sortland standing near the wrecked ambulance. He was wearing a vest and had a blanket, cell phone and box of Wheat Thins cereal with him.

(Image: Larimer County Sheriffs Office)

Police shot him with a stun gun when he refused their commands.

While in custody, Sortland, a sophomore at the university in Fort Collins, "stood on a bench, kicked the wall, and masturbated", according to police reports.

He also told police his "friends were dead, in heaven, and had committed suicide."

However, officers checked on the two people the teenager had referred to and found they were both fine, reports thedenverchannel.com.

Sortland later admitted that he had stolen the ambulance from the university's Academic Village campus at around 2am after taking molly, slang for MDMA, and cocaine, at a Halloween concert.

He was transported to Larimer County Sheriff's Office, where he allegedly attacked two deputies who were bringing him lunch.

Sortland has been charged with aggravated vehicle theft, obstructing EMS, reckless driving, hit-and-run, criminal mischief, attempted motor vehicle theft and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

He has also been handed criminal charges of assault for the jail incident.

His bail was set at $15,000 on Monday. He was due back in court on November 7.