A Tilton woman accused of trying to steal a Barnstead Fire Rescue ambulance as it idled at a Concord gas station earlier this month pleaded with a judge Friday for the chance to return to drug treatment.
Diane Lang, 46, told Merrimack County Superior Court Judge Diane M. Nicolosi, “I found that I’m happiest when I’m clean and sober and on medication.” She added, “That’s what I want for my future.”
Lang appeared in court Friday afternoon for a follow-up bail hearing in her case. She’s been incarcerated since her arrest Jan. 9 and held at the county jail in Boscawen for lack of $100,000 bail.
She faces two felony counts of theft by unauthorized taking and one count of receiving stolen property in connection with the incident at Cumberland Farms gas station on North Main Street. She also faces the following misdemeanor charges: three counts of driving under the influence, and one count each of conduct after an accident and taking without owner’s consent.
Prosecutors allege Lang tried to drive off in the ambulance after getting into a fight with a Brinks Armored Truck driver who was also parked at the gas station. The Brinks driver was returning to his vehicle with a bag of money at the time.
Lang got as far as the ambulance’s driver seat before emergency responders managed to wrestle her out of the vehicle and to the ground.
In court Friday, public defender Daniel Swegart and Assistant Merrimack County Attorney Wayne Coull met with Nicolosi in chambers prior to the start of the hearing. Swegart requested Nicolosi hold a public bail hearing, as well, so that Lang could address the court.
Coull said he opposed any modification to Lang’s bail at this time, calling her a threat to herself and the community. However, he said, the appropriate next step would be for her to be evaluated by Genesis Behavioral Health in Laconia, and to have the court review those recommendations.
Swegart agreed to that approach, but requested that Nicolosi express a sense of urgency in her order so that Lang doesn’t have to wait for several months before reestablishing herself in a treatment program.
After considering attorneys’ arguments, Nicolosi said she was in support of a plan to get Lang into Genesis, and would make sure accommodations were in place for her to be transported there by the county sheriff’s office. Nicolosi told Lang she was concerned about releasing her from jail without an appointment scheduled, but said attorneys could revisit the issue should circumstances change.
“Drug and alcohol addiction is evil, sometimes even with the best of intentions,” she told Lang.
(Alyssa Dandrea can be reached at 369-3319, adandrea@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @_ADandrea.)