Alex Wubbels has been aggressively arrested in Salt Lake City for following her job after refusing to allow blood to be taken. Source - Salt Lake City Police
The police officer who was filmed overreacting and arresting a nurse who refused to take blood from an unconscious patient without a warrant said on Tuesday that he wants to apologize.
On July 26 Salt Lake City Detective Jeff Payne's bodycam footage shows him cuffing nurse Alex Wubbels for refusingto take blood from an unconscious man because she couldn't get consent, the Daily Mail reports.
Payne's lawyer now tells KTVU that his client would "love the chance to sit down and apologise for what happened here.
"If he could do this over, he would do it differently."
In the video, recorded on July 26, Payne arrives at the hospital and demands a blood sample from a truck driver who was left unconscious in a burn unit after a car crash.
The driver's truck had been hit by a speeding car that had been involved in a police chase; Payne claims he wanted the sample to protect the man, not prosecute him.
Wubbels tells Payne that she can't take the sample until the man regains consciousness and consents - unless the cop has a warrant or the man is under arrest.
She makes calls to her University of Utah supervisors who say the same thing.
He doesn't have a warrant, but puts her on the phone with his lieutenant - James Tracey- who says she will be arrested if she doesn't comply.
Photo / Salt Lake City Police Department
When she refuses again, Payne grabs her and drags her outside, cuffing her hands behind her back as she screams "I've done nothing wrong!"
Other hospital staff are seen asking why she's being arrested, but Wubbels later said that the hospital security and university police did nothing to intervene.
She later told The Associated Press: "This cop bullied me. He bullied me to the utmost extreme. And nobody stood in his way."
An investigation by a civilian review board found that Payne had become frustrated after a long wait to draw the blood.
That frustration is why he in turn ignored the nurse's correct explanation that she couldn't allow him to take the blood without a warrant or formal consent from the unconscious patient.
The patient had been involved in a car crash, and Payne wanted to check his blood for drugs and alcohol.
Detective Jeff Payne's bodyam footage shows him cuffing nurse Alex Wubbels for refusing to take blood from an unconscious man because she couldn't get consent. Photo / Salt Lake City Police Department
The Salt Lake City police department apologized for the arrest and changed their blood-draw policies. Additionally, both Payne and Tracy were placed on paid administrative leave.
An internal investigation found that the officers violated several policies - and Police Chief Mike Brown is weighting punishment options.
This wasn't Payne's first offence on the job - in 2013 he harassed a department employee in a 'severe and persistent' manner, including several incidents of unwanted physical contact and an abusive email.
Payne's lawyer said he has had some issues - but that it was only part of his 27-year record with the department.
