In July, a video featuring a Utah police officer handcuffing a nurse who refused to let him draw blood from an unconscious patient went viral. Today, that officer has now been fired, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
[Video provided by The Salt Lake Tribune]
Recorded on the police body camera, the video shows University of Utah Hospital nurse Alex Wubbels being forcibly handcuffed and detained by Detective Jeff Payne after she refused to let Payne draw a blood sample from a crash victim at the hospital without a warrant.
Wubbels could be heard crying out for him to stop as he dragged her out to a police car to be detained. Wubbels was later released without charges being filed, only minutes later.
Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown fired Payne this week and demoted his watch commander, James Tracy. Brown's decision to fire Payne came after an internal investigation found he had violated department policies during the arrest, according to the Associated Press.
Brown wrote a disciplinary letter, obtained by the Associated Press through a public records request, that said he was "deeply troubled" by the officer's conduct, which was described as "inappropriate, unreasonable, unwarranted, discourteous, and disrespectful" as well as noting that his actions brought "significant disrepute" on the department.
"You demonstrated extremely poor unprofessional judgement (especially for an officer with 27 years of experience), which calls into question your ability to effectively serve the public and the department,” Brown also wrote in his letter.
The report states the demoted officer and his lawyer could not be reached for comment, but that the officer was reportedly told in a letter, “Your lack of judgment and leadership in this matter is unacceptable, and as a result, I no longer believe that you can retain a leadership position in the department.”
Karra Porter, Wubbel's attorney, said she was pleased with the SLC Police Department's actions in calling out the officer's wrongdoing and noted the importance of body cams in police work.
"Without the body camera footage, it would have been a she-said, they-said," Porter said. "Alex feels very strongly that her story would have never been told if it weren't for the body camera footage."
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