Cops: Psych patient attacks 3, steals car

A psychiatric patient beat up two medical workers and a third man on a Nassau parkway before taking a cop's car and leading police on a chase to the Bronx, authorities said Monday.

The patient, Kenneth Ashley, was "acting appropriately" before being placed in an ambulance at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New Hyde Park early Sunday afternoon, a hospital official said Monday.

Ashley, 30, of Queens, was in an ambulance on the Northern State Parkway en route to South Oaks Hospital in Amityville when the driver heard a second EMT screaming for help from the rear, police said.

The driver pulled over near Willis Avenue, where Ashley left the ambulance and attacked both men, kicking and beating one over the head with a laptop computer. Ashley then punched in the face a third man, who had pulled over to offer assistance, and threw him over a guardrail, New York State Police said.

After an off-duty NYPD officer pulled over to help, Ashley ran across the parkway, jumped in the officer's blue Jeep Cherokee and raced away. Nassau cops and NYPD officers pursued him to the Bronx, where he crashed and was arrested.

Ashley, whose father said Monday he has a history of mental illness but not violence, was unrestrained in the ambulance because he showed no sign of aggression, said Alan Schwalberg, vice president of emergency medical services at Long Island Jewish.

Police took Ashley after his arrest for a psychiatric evaluation at Jacobi Medical Center. He remained in custody in the Bronx late Monday awaiting arraignment on felony assault, grand larceny and other charges. Ashley has no known criminal record in New York.

Ashley's father, also named Kenneth Ashley, said Monday that his son is employed and has a history of mental illness.

The EMT who was riding with Ashley, Jay Niemer, remained hospitalized in stable condition at LIJ Monday. The ambulance driver, Alexander Mullins, was treated for injuries and released Sunday, hospital officials said.

With John Valenti