Ambulance Theft Linked To Alabama Man Living Out Fantasy

Federal intelligence officials in Birmingham issued a regionwide alert for the white-and-orange vehicle, amid fears it could be used by a terrorist to gain access to sensitive areas.

But authorities said an investigation revealed the man, identified as Michael Lee Perry, 25, had nothing to do with terrorism and instead may be living in a fantasy world.

``He doesn't really have a history of mental problems, but I'd say he's not living in reality,'' said Jim Reynolds, an investigator with the sheriff's office in Tishomingo County, Miss.

Perry was jailed in the Mississippi county on numerous charges of forgery, theft and criminal impersonation. Perry's last known address was in Sheffield in northwest Alabama, but police believe he was living both there and in Mississippi.

A man showed up last week at Taylor Made Ambulance in Newport, Ark., claiming to work for NorthStar EMS in Florence, said Patrick Weatherford, a detective with the Newport Police Department. The man wrote out a bogus check to purchase the used vehicle and then went to a hospital and charged $1,284 worth of medical supplies to NorthStar, which wasn't familiar with Perry, Weatherford said.

Concerned the ambulance could be employed in a terror scheme, Newport police contacted the FBI, resulting in an alert about the vehicle. Police spotted the ambulance in Corinth, Miss., on Tuesday and arrested Perry, Reynolds said.

Perry also is accused of using a bogus check to purchase a Ford sport-utility vehicle from a dealer in Mississippi, he said.

Reynolds said the man hasn't explained why he wanted the ambulance but may have wanted to be like the main character in ``Catch Me If You Can,'' a 2002 movie based on the true story of a con man who passed himself off as various people to avoid arrest.

``I just believe he was living out a fantasy,'' said Reynolds.