Pizza with a badge: Lincoln Park cop subs for driver

We’ve heard of police officers delivering babies, but pizza?

That’s what happened Monday, and it turns out the customer got more than he ordered.

Lincoln Park Police Cpl. Joe Sparks helped a Jet’s Pizza delivery man who was injured in car accident near Dix and Cicotte. Then he went above the call of duty to ensure a still-warm pie reached the man who ordered it.

“I know someone on the other end was waiting for their food,” Sparks said Tuesday night. “I just figured it was the right thing to do.”

The collision sent the worker to the hospital with bruises and a sore head, Sparks said. The other driver declined medical attention.

Before the delivery man’s wrecked car was towed, Sparks glanced inside and noticed an oven bag. He had planned to return the pie to the restaurant on Fort, which long has catered to his colleagues. But noticing the address was “only a few blocks away,” Sparks said, “I just decided to take the pizza to the house.”

The special delivery puzzled neighbors and surprised the grateful customer, who offered to pay him.

“I explained that I was on the clock,” Sparks said, so the diner arranged to pony up at Jet’s instead.

Though the grand gesture has garnered media attention and stands out from most other days in his 16 years on the force, Sparks considers it just part of the job.

He racks it up to delivering what the community expects -- in this case, in a pizza box.

“I grew up in the city, so I try to give back when I can,” he said.