Sahaya Novinston Lobo By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Believe it or not, a man arrived at a corporate hospital in the city in his Audi in the wee hours of Sunday and drove the hospital’s ambulance back home instead. He didn’t realise he was driving a Maruti Omni ambulance until he reached his home 13 km away at Palavakkam from Thousand Lights, according to a police officer who handled the case. No prizes for guessing he was sloshed.

It was around 3 am when the hospital staff noticed a Maruti ambulance missing from the campus. Suspecting it to be a theft, the hospital informed the Thousand Lights police. A team from a nearby night patrol reached the hospital and started making enquiries.

“Just then a man drove the ambulance into the hospital and profusely apologised saying his boss, a businessman, had mistakenly driven it home,” said a police officer. The businessman had come to the hospital to drop his friend, who is said to have suffered injuries. By mistake, he drove off the ambulance and realised it only when people at home asked him about his Audi.

The staff noticed that a side mirror in the ambulance was damaged, but the driver agreed to compensate for it and left in his boss’ Audi. “The hospital didn’t want to pursue the case,” said the officer.