Pa. Ambulance Manager Submits Request in Theft Case

A former Westmoreland County man accused of stealing or misappropriating about $450,000 from an ambulance service in Uniontown has filed his request to enter a pretrial diversionary program.

David Cunningham, 37, of Myrtle Beach, S.C., was charged last year with three counts of theft and one count of forgery.

Cunningham, who resided in North Huntingdon Township from 1971 to 2003, was hired in June 2002 as a manager of American Ambulance Inc.

Between April 2003 and July 2005, Cunningham allegedly sold company property, illegally obtained company reimbursement checks and used company funds to buy personal items, according to an investigation by Uniontown police Detective Jason Cox.

Cunningham also overpaid himself, and his wife, Kathy, by almost $96,000 and created a job for his mother, to whom he paid $24,000 in 2004, police said.

Fayette County District Attorney Nancy Vernon has said she would support Cunningham's petition to enter the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program after he forfeits the property he bought with the stolen money.

He will be required to forfeit titles to a Cadillac Escalade, Harley-Davidson motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles and other property to the ambulance company's owners, Concepto and May Flores, Vernon has said.

Since October 2005, Cunningham has worked for Georgetown County Fire/EMS in Georgetown, S.C.

Cunningham's request for ARD will be assigned to a Fayette County judge.

The ARD program is for nonviolent, first-time criminal offenders, who may petition the court to have their public records expunged after a probationary period.

The program does not require defendants to make an admission of guilt.

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