Patient Killed By Hit-and-Run After Leaping From Moving Ambulance: Cops

A mentally ill New York man unstrapped himself from a stretcher before jumping out of a moving ambulance in Long Island, police say.

A mentally ill New York man was killed after unbuckling himself from a stretcher and leaping from a moving ambulance, authorities said Tuesday.

Frank Ligrnetta, 51, of Bay Shore, was being taken to a hospital when he Jumped from the vehicle and tumbled onto a busy highway near an onramp to the Long Island Expressway, police say.

"He hit the ground. He was never standing, and he was run over shortly thereafter." Tim Sini, deputy commissioner of the Suffolk County Police Department told the AP.

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The driver of a dark-colored sedan sped from the scene, according to a police statement.

According to Sini, there was an attendant in the ambulance with Ligrnetta, who was sitting up and strapped to a stretcher.

"At this point there does not appear to be a struggle," between the two, Sini said.

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No arrests have been made in the hit-and-run incident.

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