The fallout continues after shocking video of a Utah police detective violently arresting nurse Alex Wubbels went viral last week. To recap, Detective Jeff Payne violently and illegally arrested Wubbels after she refused his demands to draw blood from a patient. With her supervisor on speakerphone backing her up, Wubbels read the hospital policy aloud and correctly did her job. An increasingly angry Payne snapped and dragged her outside, aggressively handcuffing her, all with the alleged blessing of his own supervisor.
After widespread attention to the story, here are a few key updates to the story:
Detective Payne is under investigation.
Salt Lake City police say an officer seen on video dragging a screaming nurse from a hospital and handcuffing her will be put on paid administrative leave after prosecutors called for a criminal investigation.
Police Chief Mike Brown said in a statement Friday that his department will comply with the investigation into Detective Jeff Payne. He arrested nurse Alex Wubbels after she refused to allow blood to be drawn from an unconscious victim, in line with hospital policy.
The University of Utah has changed their policies, enacting a new stricter law enforcement policy:
The Salt Lake City hospital where a police officer roughly arrested a nurse who was protecting her patient's rights in July will no longer allow law enforcement agents inside its patient care areas. They'll now have to check in rather than enter through the emergency room.
"Law enforcement who come to the hospital for any reason involving patients will be required to check in to the front desk of the hospital," said chief nursing officer Margaret Pearce of the University of Utah Hospital. "There, a hospital house supervisor will meet the officers to work through each request."
Detective Jeff Payne has been fired from his side job as a paramedic.
On Tuesday afternoon, Mr. Payne was also fired from his part-time job as a paramedic with Gold Cross Ambulance because of remarks he made that the company’s president said were “inflammatory” and “inappropriate.”
Now, let’s take a moment to examine why there might be more to this story. The reason nurse Alex Wubbels was refusing to allow Detective Payne to draw blood from a patient is because the patient was a victim in a fatal accident. The patient was not accused of any crimes, had not been arrested, was not conscious to give consent—but he was a victim of a deadly accident resulting from a high speed police chase. Attorney Owen Barcala offered one theory on Twitter:
Were Detective Payne and his supervisor so eager to get a blood sample from William Gray in the hopes of finding something they could later point to in an effort help another police department cover their ass after a deadly chase?
And for what it’s worth, the patient has been identified as Idaho resident William Gray, a full-time truck driver who also happens to be a Rigby police officer. His department thanked nurse Wubbels for protecting Gray’s rights:
Stay tuned. This sad story may be far from over.