Sheriff: Woman sexually assaulted in back of ambulance

SPRINGFIELD, Ohio (WDTN) –  The Clark County Sheriff says a man working for a medical transport company raped a 52-year-old woman while transporting her to a nursing home.

According to Sheriff Gene Kelly, 23-year-old Sam Conkel works for a transport company that was taking a woman from Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton to a Clark County nursing home.

Conkel, an Emergency Medical Technician has been charged with one count of Sexual Battery and one count of Gross Sexual Imposition.

According to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, on December 11, 2015 the victim had been released from Miami Valley Hospital and was being taken to Southbrook Care Facility in Springfield by First Care Ohio, LLC Ambulance Service.

Samuel P. Conkel was inside the ambulance with the victim while she was being transported. The woman told investigators she was “in and out of consciousness” from medication she received at the hospital. She said at one point she became aware of Conkel putting his hand inside her shirt and fondling her breast. When she arrived at Southbrook Care Facility she told staff about the incident. The staff contacted the Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies obtained a search warrant on March 1 and got a DNA sample from Conkel. That sample was sent to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and on March 23, investigators learned the comparison of the sample and DNA evidence found on a blanket covering the woman in the ambulance were a match with Conkel.

Conkel was arrested Wednesday and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.