A Shelby County sheriff's deputy was given a one-day suspension today for using poor judgment when he delayed a man for expired tags while taking his mother to the hospital.

Deputy Micah McNinch, who has been with the department since 2006, "made a mistake in judgment" during the March 12 stop of Wayne Ables at Wolfchase Galleria, Sheriff Mark Luttrell said. Ables was trying to get his 83-year-old mother, Vernice Ables, to St. Francis Hospital-Bartlett when he was stopped in the early morning hours.

Vernice Ables was gasping for air in the back seat of her son's car because of a lung condition when the deputy stopped them for the expired tags. The hospital was less than a mile away, and Wayne Ables could see the top of the medical building from where he was stopped.

Instead of providing an escort for Ables or following him to the hospital and dealing with the ticket there, McNinch asked for Ables' license and proof of insurance. He called for an ambulance at the scene.

The sheriff said in the videotape, the Ables family asks for an ambulance, and McNinch asks them if they want him to call an ambulance.