A 24-year-old man in the Russian city of Izhevsk stole an ambulance and drove it around for two days before getting caught, police said.
The man climbed into the freshly repaired vehicle that was left unguarded with keys in the ignition at a service station, RIA Novosti reported.
The car theft took place on Monday, but was not discovered until Wednesday, when the medics were due to pick up their vehicle.
The car turned up in a nearby yard, where police staked out to apprehend the driver who was caught with the car keys on him.
It remained unclear what prompted the theft, but the vehicle added 540 km to the odometer, and the man's cellphone had outgoing messages saying: "Doing side jobs with the ambulance".
Police did not elaborate on the side jobs, but media previously reported that some ambulances in Moscow take passengers who are in a hurry, abusing their road privileges and getting through the country's massive traffic jams.