HHC Sergeant is Fired Over Improper Arrest; Cuffed Administrator, Defied Orders

The Health and Hospitals Corporation has fired a Police Sergeant who a hearing officer concluded improperly arrested a hospital administrator and held him for nearly two hours.

ALAN AVILES: Has final disciplinary say.

Kevin Huling, a Senior Special Officer, was charged with seven counts of misconduct and abusing his authority for ordering the arrest of David Shapiro, the on-duty hospital administrator at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in The Bronx.

Asked Him to Disregard Policy

On Oct. 26, 2007, Mr. Huling was assigned as sector chief for the emergency room. At 7:30 p.m., the Central Operations Office told Mr. Huling to respond to the surgical emergency room for a patient property check. Special Officer Richard Flores told him that Mr. Shapiro refused to come to the emergency room to witness the property check, according to procedure. The officer and the administrator spoke on the phone several times after that. Mr. Shapiro said he was handling a pressing patient-care matter and asked Mr. Huling to handle the property check, although that was against hospital policy.

Mr. Huling and Mr. Shapiro gave two different accounts of what happened leading up the arrest of the administrator. The officer's version portrayed the administrator as aggressive both verbally and physically. "Mr. Shapiro continued pointing at [Mr. Huling] while yelling, 'Do you know who I am? I'm your boss,''' according to the officer's account. He claimed he arrested Mr. Shapiro because he threw up his hands in balled fists.

"The evidence is clear," Administrative Law Judge Julio Rodriguez of the city Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings wrote in his decision. "Mr. Shapiro and [Mr. Huling] were locked in a battle of egos."

OATH found surveillance video of the incident that contradicted Mr. Huling's account. "While Mr. Shapiro's hands cannot be seen clearly, even if his hands were balled up into fists, the video clearly shows Mr. Shapiro standing with his hands continuously by his side," the decision stated.

Defied Superiors' Orders

After Mr. Huling ordered the arrest, his supervisor, Sgt. Pierre Gardner, arrived at the hospital and sought to release Mr. Shapiro. Mr. Huling refused to comply and a Captain was called, who told the officer he would lose his job if he did not free the administrator.

After an hour and forty minutes, the hospital administrator was taken out of handcuffs. Mr. Huling, however, denied being instructed to remove the restraints. He maintained throughout the administrative trial that the arrest was valid.

Mr. Rodriguez found that Mr. Huling abused his authority in making the arrest; used excessive force; was insubordinate; disrupted hospital operations and failed to maintain a safe work environment; and was derelict in his duties.

"Particularly troublesome is whether respondent would act in a similar fashion when confronted by someone of lesser or no authority over him, such as a patient or visitor at the hospital," the recommendation read. "The Health and Hospitals Corporation can no longer trust that [the officer] will act appropriately in the future."

HHC President Alan Aviles had the final say in the matter.