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.