The officer who followed a doctor’s orders and unshackled a prisoner being treated at Bellevue Hospital is facing disciplinary measures, according to police sources.
When 23-year-old Christopher Miller sought medical attention at Bellevue Hospital on Feb. 3 after he was stabbed in the thigh, police quickly learned that he was wanted in connection to an outstanding warrant. Police swiftly cuffed Miller to the bed while he was being treated for his injury, authorities reported.
Miller apparently sustained the injury after he visited a McDonald’s on 42nd Street and 8th Avenue at around 10:41 p.m. on Feb. 2 when a large group got into a fight in the fast-food restaurant, resulting in him being stabbed.
Miller, who was apparently wanted on an old summons and for reckless endangerment after allegedly firing a gun all the way back in March 2022, was being guarded in the hospital during the early hours of Feb. 3, by a police officer, fresh out of the academy, when a doctor demanded him to be unshackled.
“A doctor from Bellevue insisted that the leg shackles be removed from the patient so that he could work on his leg. The officer removed the leg shackles and left the room during the medical procedure,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
Miller evidently used this to his advantage, later rushing out of the room, down the hallway, and out of the back of the ICU barefooted, police said.
Members of the U.S Marshals Regional Fugitive Task Force were able to catch up with Miller on Feb. 5, cuffing him and charging him with escape in the third degree, a misdemeanor.
Police say protocol would often be to refuse a request to unshackle a prisoner and in the event of medical staff insisting, a patrol supervisor would mostly respond. That officer is now facing disciplinary action from the Chief of Patrol’s office.
