Officer suspended for handcuffing doctor

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A police officer who stopped a doctor for speeding on his way to deliver a baby, and then took him to the maternity ward in handcuffs, has agreed to an unpaid suspension for lack of judgment.

Dr. Anthony Chidiac was driving his motorcycle 10 miles above the 25 mph speed limit last March when he was stopped by 15-year veteran Officer William Lilliston.

According to records released Monday from an internal police investigation, when the doctor explained he was going to a delivery, the officer allegedly asked if he was delivering a pizza and later said, “If you’re a doctor, I’m Mickey Mouse or Joe Blow.”

Lilliston called the hospital to confirm Chidiac’s story, and drove him to the hospital as the baby’s head was showing. The officer then asked to see the doctor’s driver’s license before letting Chidiac change into scrubs.

Chidiac delivered the baby 15 minutes after the handcuffs were removed.

The officer, who said the doctor had been slow in pulling over, later wrote Chidiac a traffic citation.

The officer agreed last month to serve a 16-day unpaid suspension under a negotiated settlement, said Jack Lokeinsky, his union’s president. The case is scheduled to go before a Citizen Review Board on April 11.

Lokeinsky said Lilliston’s actions did not warrant a more severe punishment because the doctor should have pulled over immediately and shown his identification.