A car driver told Police "do not mess with a rich man" after he was pulled over for driving past a stop sign.

Author and doctor Francisco Martins, 60, of Sandys, was seen by officers driving past the sign at the intersection of Middle Road and South Road at 1 a.m. on August 30. According to Senior Crown counsel Carrington Mahoney, when Police stopped Martins he said: "Yes, I stopped. What is this harassment? Do you know who I am?"

He then told officers that he was a doctor and an author, and asked them if they had something against the Portuguese.

Police asked Martins if he had been drinking, to which he responded: "You pull me over for not stopping and then you say I'm drunk? Don't mess with a rich man."

Martins, who works for a bank and has published book called 'Prince of Ambition' about Portuguese explorer Henry the Navigator, pleaded guilty to driving while impaired, and asked Senior Magistrate Archibald Warner not to ban him from driving because it would be difficult for him to carry garbage out to the end of his road.

However Mr. Warner did ban Martins for driving all vehicles for one year, along with fining him $1,000 and issuing ten demerit points.