Cops: Merrick ambulance taken, then abandoned

Police are trying to determine who took a Merrick Fire Department ambulance for a short ride before leaving it parked not far from the firehouse late Wednesday.

The ambulance had been parked -- keys in the ignition -- outside Merrick's Friendship Engine and Hose Company, near the Babylon Turnpike exit of the Meadowbrook State Parkway, when it was taken at about 11:30 p.m., Nassau County police said.

First Precinct officers found the ambulance not long after, parked on North Jerusalem Avenue in North Merrick.

Police said no items were stolen from the ambulance.

It was unclear if the incident was intended as a prank -- or if someone intended to steal the ambulance, but then simply abandoned it.