Video Shows Nurse Get Cuffed, Dragged After Refusing To Draw Blood From Unconscious Patient
SALT LAKE CITY (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A Utah police officer's body camera video shows a hospital nurse being handcuffed after refusing to draw blood on an unconscious patient.
The video taken at University Hospital in Salt Lake City shows nurse Alex Wubbels calmly explaining to Salt Lake detective Jeff Payne that she couldn't draw blood on a patient who had been injured in a fiery car accident.
She told the officer a patient was required to give consent for a blood sample or be under arrest. Otherwise, she said police needed a warrant.
"He doesn't have a warrant, and the patient is not under arrest. I'm just trying to do what I'm told to do, that's all," she said at the time.
Wubbels declined the request, saying non of those conditions were met.
The dispute ended with Payne telling the nurse she was under arrest and physically moving her out of the hospital while she screamed, "Help! Help! Somebody help me! Stop! Stop! I did nothing wrong!"
The Salt Lake Tribune reported Wubbels was not charged. She said she was illegally arrested.
"I just feel betrayed, I feel angry," Wubbels said.
On Friday, there was reaction from Salt Lake City's mayor and police chief.
"What I saw is completely unacceptable," Mayor Jackie Biskupski said.
"I am sad at the rift this has caused between law enforcement and the nurses we work so closely with," Chief Mike Brown said.
Police spokeswoman Christina Judd said the agency initiated an internal investigation within hours of the July 26 incident.
Judd said the assistant chief has apologized to the hospital and that the department is alarmed by what they saw in the video.
The department is working to investigate what went wrong and is seeking to repair the "unfortunate rift'' it has caused," Judd added.
Payne had wanted blood from the driver of a semi. The trucker had been hit by a car going in the wrong direction during a police pursuit. The semi driver was not suspected of doing anything wrong, so there was no clear reason to even want a sample.
Payne has been reassigned but remains on active duty.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)