Former Wayne Officer Files Lawsuit To Get Job Back After Allegedly Being Fired For Eating Without Permission

WAYNE, N.J. (CBS) -- A former Wayne police officer filed a lawsuit after he was fired for allegedly eating in a diner when he was called to respond to a cardiac arrest of a patient who ended up dying.

NJ.com reports Erik Ferschman was fired in November over the September 2015 incident. He has filed a lawsuit to get his job back at the Wayne Police Department.

An internal investigation conducted by the Wayne Police Department revealed that Ferschman was eating at Park Wayne Diner without permission when he received a call about a person who was in cardiac arrest. The diner was outside of Ferschman's patrol zone.

According to NJ.com, Ferschman was delayed in responding to the cardiac arrest call as he continued to eat and pay for his food.

Court documents filed in the Passaic County Superior Court indicate that officials allege that Ferschman was going 105 mph on his way to the call and didn't report the correct time he arrived to the patient's house to the dispatcher.

The patient died before the officer left the diner.

The documents reveal that Ferschman allegedly sped back to the diner, traveling four miles in nearly three minutes, while telling the dispatcher he was still on the scene while he was really at the diner.

The internal investigation also found that earlier on that same day, the former officer waited 12 minutes in a church parking lot before responding to a call about an odor of something burning, according to NJ.com.

Ferschman was terminated on Nov. 21.

A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.