A man in Colombia’s northern city of Santa Marta stole an ambulance Saturday to go in search of Brazilian soccer star Neymar, local media reported on Sunday.
Waldemar Almato Baron, 38, seized the day – and an ambulance – in the early hours of Saturday July 12 when a paramedic was distracted from the task of transferring a patient to a local hospital, according to Colombia’s El Heraldo newspaper.
Sirens blaring, Almato Baron drove the ambulance for 10 minutes before authorities were able to catch up with him.
“Let me go because Neymar is waiting for me,” said Almato Baron when stopped by the police. He was barely eight miles into what would have been a 3,000 mile cross-continental adventure when his joyride was cut short and police had traced the vehicle’s GPS location.
The would-be international explorer also told police upon being detained that he was hungry and asked for some nourishment.
Almato Baron, whom witnesses claim is a psychiatric patient, did not protest when asked to hand over the keys to the ambulance, according to Colombia’s El Heraldo newspaper.