FDNY EMT Made Fake 911 Call to Avoid Long Response

A Queens EMT who was dispatched to Brooklyn for a sick toddler used a pay phone to call 911 with a fake emergency closer to his post in a pathetic attempt to avoid the cross-borough schlep, officials said on Friday.

William Medina, 27, had just dropped off a patient at a hospital on Aug. 19 when he got the call for the ill child, according to the Department of Investigation.

But instead of rushing to the scene, he rushed to the nearest pay phone — where he told a 911 operator a man was going into cardiac arrest at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, just 10 blocks from where he was stationed.

He even tried to make the “emergency” seem like a higher priority than the sick kid by claiming that the man was not breathing and could possibly be dead, according to DOI officials.

Nearly a dozen emergency personnel, including police officers, two ambulances and a fire truck, responded to the phony crisis.

But Medina’s unit was never reassigned and he instead headed toward the Brooklyn kid. On the way, they were flagged down by a person standing near 82nd Street and Broadway in Queens who complained of being “itchy.”

Medina and his partner treated him and took him to a hospital.

When the FDNY realized it had been duped, it tipped off the DOI, which opened an investigation.

Officials were later able to trace the false 911 call back to the pay phone at 65th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, where they interviewed witnesses and scoured through area security videos.

They found their smoking gun in footage showing Medina approaching the pay phone from which the 911 call was placed, officials said.

His own partner, Stephen Choy, told investigators he saw Medina make the call.

Medina was arrested and charged on Friday with falsifying business records, obstructing governmental administration and falsely reporting an incident, which are all misdemeanors, according to the DOI.

Medina, who has been a paramedic for a year and who was earning $31,93, resigned in August during the DOI’s investigation.

“If he does something like that, he has no business being an EMT,” an FDNY source told The Post. “We don’t need people like him in the Fire Department.”

The FDNY refused to officially comment on the case.

Medina was released without bail at his arraignment Friday night. He is facing up to a year behind bars if convicted.

His lawyer, Ali Benchakroun, disputed Choy’s account, describing his statements to authorities as “hearsay.’’

He added, “My client has no criminal history. This is his first arrest.’’ Benchakroun said he hasn’t been shown any evidence to support the charges, “no video surveillance, no phone records, nothing.’’

Additional reporting by Jamie Schram