'Cheaper to call an Uber:' Woman fined after faking pregnancy to get ambulance ride back to hometown
GREENSBURG (KDKA) — A woman is facing a hefty fine after police say she faked a pregnancy and being ill to get a ride to a Westmoreland County hospital, which is in her hometown.
Police say 25-year-old Leeann Armstrong was desperate to get a ride back to Greensburg.
She told police she was stranded in Latrobe and spent the night outside. So they say she called the Mutual Aid Ambulance Service, and faked a medical condition.
“The next morning, she just called an ambulance and said she was having difficulty with a pregnancy,” said Greensburg Police Capt. Robert Stafford.
An ambulance drove Armstrong and a male companion to the emergency room at Excela Health Westmoreland Hospital in Greenburg.
But doctors never got a chance to check out her alleged pregnancy.
“Before she was checked, she just walked out of the hospital, motioned for her friend to leave the waiting room, and they just walked out of the hospital,” said Capt. Stafford.
But Armstrong didn’t get far.
The ambulance service had her name and address in the computer. Officers went to her apartment and found Armstrong hiding in the attic. That’s when police say she admitted she was not pregnant and was only trying to find a way to get out of Latrobe.
Police say they also found a bag of marijuana and drug paraphernalia, including a digital scale, in her apartment.
As a result of the charges against Armstrong, this ended up being a very expensive taxi ride.
“I did charge them with theft of services, which is an over $800 fine she’s being charged with,” Capt. Stafford said. “It’s probably a little cheaper to call a taxi or an Uber.”
It was back in January of this year when another Westmoreland County woman got an ambulance ride from her Jeannette apartment to the hospital, but it wasn’t because she was sick.
Alysia Edwards, 27, was quick to admit to officials that she wasn’t ill at all. Instead, she said only that she wanted to see her husband, who had been admitted earlier but had been discharged.
Police said Edwards threw a fit and attacked a nurse. She was charged with aggravated assault, insurance fraud and public drunkenness.