A dark and stormy night

On a dark and stormy night, a man was driving his car down a deserted road when he saw three people waiting for a ride. The man stopped and asked where they were headed.

The first person said, "I'm a doctor and I need to get to a hospital because there's an emergency."

The second person said, "I'm a scientist and I need to get to a laboratory because I've made a breakthrough discovery."

The third person said, "I'm a criminal and I need to get to a prison because I've just escaped from jail and I can't handle life outside its walls."

The man, not knowing who to believe, decided to only take one passenger. He asked each of them to prove their story.

The doctor showed the man a medical certificate proving his credentials.

The scientist showed the man a formula he had written on a piece of paper that proved his discovery.

The criminal showed the man a newspaper article that had his picture and story on the front page.

The man, still unsure of who to trust, decided to take one of them with him and leave the other two behind. Who did he choose and why?

The man chose to take the scientist with him because the formula he showed him was written in reverse. The man knew that the formula was a fake, and he realized that the scientist was actually the criminal who had escaped from jail. The doctor's emergency was legitimate, but he couldn't take him because there wasn't enough room in the car.