Immigration agents arrest man accused of booting ambulance

wwltv.com
Posted on December 5, 2012 at 3:40 PM
Updated today at 4:08 PM
Brendan McCarthy / Eyewitness News
Email: bmccarthy@wwltv.com | Twitter: @bmccarthyWWL

NEW ORLEANS -- The Mid-City convenience store employee who last week put a parking boot on an in-service ambulance was arrested late Tuesday for violating federal immigration law.

Ahmed Maloum Sidi Aleywa, a 33-year-old Mauritanian national, was taken into custody last night by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, according to ICE spokesman Bryan Cox.

Aleywa entered the United States February through Miami, according to Cox. He had a tourist visa, which allows for a six-month stay. Aleywa was authorized to be in the country only through August and is not allowed to work or be employed here, Cox noted.

Aleywa was cited by New Orleans police for simple criminal damage to property after he put a restrictive parking boot on an ambulance, amid a emergency service call Friday.

Aleywa was working for Quicky’s convenience store at the corner of Tulane and Broad in Mid-City. A worker at the store said Monday that Aleywa had been fired.

“The guy that did this, he came from another country. He didn't even know what an ambulance looked like,” said Ali Colone,who identified himself as a worker at Quicky’s. The owners declined to comment, but Colone said the owners are sorry it happened.

Paramedics were parked in the store’s lot Friday because a man inside the store had complained of chest pains.

Paramedics considered it a life-threatening matter and left the ambulance in the lot, its lights flashing.

When they attempted to leave and bring the patient to a hospital, the vehicle screeched to a halt because of the boot. A store employee eventually removed the boot, but the ambulance’s tire was flat.

Meanwhile, another ambulance had to pick up the patient and transport him to a hospital.

Cox declined to comment on what possible penalties Aleywa could face.

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