Utah cop who dragged
screaming nurse fired from police department A Utah detective who was filmed
handcuffing and dragging a nurse in July has been fired. Jeff Payne, a
detective with the Salt Lake City Police Department, was fired Tuesday
following an investigation, Chief Mike Brown said Tuesday. In a video filmed
July 26, Payne, who was working as a part-time paramedic, asked University
Hospital Nurse Alex Wubbels to draw blood from an unconscious patient, which
she refused to do, citing company policy. The detective had support from his
supervisor, Lt. James Tracy, who said Wubbels could be arrested if she didn't
allow the blood draw. Payne eventually told Wubbels she was under arrest and
physically removed her from the hospital while she screamed, claiming that she
hadn’t done anything wrong. An investigation by a civilian review board found
Payne had apparently become frustrated after a long wait to perform the blood
draw and ignored the nurse's correct explanation that she could not allow it
without a warrant or formal consent from the patient, who had been in a car crash.
Salt Lake City police later apologized for the arrest, changed their blood-draw
policies and placed Payne and Tracy on paid administrative leave after the
video from police body cameras drew widespread attention online. An internal
investigation with the police department found evidence that the officers
violated several policies. Payne was fired from his paramedic job with Gold
Cross Ambulance — a company which he worked for since 1983 — on Sept. 5. Greg
Skordas, Payne’s lawyer, said last month that his client would “love the chance
to sit down and apologize for what happened here. If he could do this over, he
would do it differently.” Skordas also questioned whether Payne’s behavior
warranted being fired.
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