Italian Senator's Improper Use of Ambulance Ride May Land Him in Court

The string of humiliations for the Italian legislature continued to come Monday. Italian officials claim that Italian senator Gustavo Selvo may face charges for fraudulently having an ambulance transport him to a television station for an interview.

United States President George W. Bush visited Italy on Saturday causing many streets to be blocked off by Italian Authorities. The road closures nearly caused Selvo to be late for an interview at a television station. Selvo then called an ambulance to get him through the road blocks. He reportedly lied to emergency service operators telling them that he needed to be taken immediately to his doctor for a heart condition. He then gave operators the television studio's address representing the building as a heart specialist's office.

Selvo made the mistake of boasting about what he had done during his televised interview. According to Reuters, the senator reportedly said this during the interview: "I used an old journalist's trick to get here."

Selvo's unapologetic admission on television angered Italian emergency services. The services were bogged down with preparations for President Bush's visit including 50 ambulances on stand by in case there where injuries from violent anti-Bush protests. The services also had 600 genuine calls to contend with.

According to Reuters, Livia Turco, Italian Health Minister decried Senator Selvo's actions as: "shameful and irresponsible." She reportedly went on to say that their would be inquiry in to the matter "to see if this constitutes a crime, either in civil or criminal courts. This arrogant stunt could have had tragic consequences if another person had really needed that ambulance."