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[Updated and Bumped] OUTRAGE OF THE DAY: This is the sort of thing that puts America’s law enforcement officers at risk

A nurse says she was assaulted and illegally arrested by a Salt Lake City police detective for following a hospital policy that does not allow blood draws from unconscious patients.

Video shows Utah nurse screaming, being handcuffed after refusing to take blood from unconscious victim – The Salt Lake Tribune

Detective Jeff Payne is the “officer” in this case. Unclear why he is still working this morning but according to the dispatcher I just spoke to in Salt Lake City at 801-799-3000 that seems to be the case.

At one point, Payne threatens to take Wubbels to jail if he doesn’t get the sample, and he accuses her of interfering with a criminal case. “I either go away with blood in vials or body in tow,” Payne says.

After Wubbels consults with several hospital officials and repeats the policy, Payne tells her she is under arrest and grabs her, pulling her arms behind her back and handcuffing her. The footage shows the detective dragging Wubbels out of the hospital and putting her inside a patrol car as she screams, “Help! Help! Somebody help me! Stop! Stop! I did nothing wrong!”

 

A University of Utah police officer and other officers, who provide security for the hospital, were present at time of the arrest and did not intervene.

As he stands in the hospital parking lot after the arrest, Payne says to another officer that he wonders how this event will affect an off-duty job transporting patients for an ambulance company.

“I’ll bring them all the transients and take good patients elsewhere,” Payne says.

On the SLCPD web site “Chief Mike Brown has this to say about his department’s “ideals”:

“I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the Salt Lake City Police Department website. I want everyone who lives, works, and visits Salt Lake City to know that my goals are to work hard to enforce a rigorous standard of community-based policing and to belay concern, uncertainty, and doubt about the amazing impact we have as a department charged with establishing and maintaining order and peace in this beautiful city. We hope that you will find this website helpful to know us better and enhance our community partnership.”

Yeah. Right.

UPDATE: This is to clarify what the legal situation was for those who need to know the details.

Every Cop Involved in the Arrest of This Utah Nurse for Refusing to (Illegally) Draw a Patient’s Blood Needs to Be Fired

What Payne did here is patently, inescapably wrong in just about every possible way. Just one year ago the Supreme Court ruled that police must get a warrant or consent in order to draw a person’s blood. It’s utterly inconceivable that Payne, who is a trained phlebotomist with the police, did not know this. According to coverage from the Salt Lake Tribune, Payne acknowledged that he didn’t have probable cause to get a warrant, but nevertheless insisted he had the authority to demand Wubbels draw blood.

But Payne did not have the authority to demand the blood draw and Wubbels was not “interfering” with a police investigation as they insisted at the time. Unsurprisingly, she was released later at the hospital and was not charged with any crime.

In fact, the claim that this blood draw was part of an “investigation” at all adds another layer of revulsion to Payne’s behavior. The unconscious man Payne wanted blood from was not suspected of any crime and had done nothing wrong. He was, in fact, a victim of a crime.

Gray’s terrible injuries were a consequence of a police chase that he had absolutely nothing to do with. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time. According to the coverage of the arrest, Payne said that he wanted to draw blood from Gray to check for drugs in order to “protect” him in some fashion, not to punish him, and that he was ordered to go collect his blood by police in Logan. It is not made clear in any coverage what exactly the police would protecting him from by drawing his blood without his consent while he was unconscious. Payne also said it was his watch commander, Lt. James Tracy, who told him to arrest Wubbels if she refused to draw blood.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • John Lamade September 1, 2017, 11:18 AM

    This one is easy. The arresting officer and those with him should be tried for false arrest, assault, kidnapping, and the unlawful pursuit of blood samples. They should go to jail for a long, long time as well as being heavily fined. There should be NO forgiveness for the officers’ actions; they do not deserve any quarter.

  • John Lamade September 1, 2017, 11:23 AM

    You say that this is the kind of thing that puts officers at risk. The solution, then, is easy. Officers should behave in accordance with the law. They should be professionals rather than savages. There is no excuse for the officers’ behavior. In addition, the campus security officers should have done more than just stand there. In fact, they observed crimes being committed and did nothing. Ideally, they should arrested the SLCP officers.

  • Jack September 1, 2017, 11:32 AM

    A good lawyer is going to ream the hell out of the cop and the city. This nurse might be able to take an all expense paid vacation while Officer Dumbshit shares a cot with Tyrone Bigbone.

  • Vanderleun September 1, 2017, 11:44 AM

    John, You are correct in the overall solution. My point (albeit oblique) was that this sort of lawless heavy handed behavior makes the general population of the nation, once it sees this, much less trusting of officers on the one hand, and — when dealing with small fractions of the populations — more liable to take aggressive and deadly preventative action. That’s what worries me. A cop misbehaves like this in Utah and it makes it more likely one will be attacked elsewhere.

  • Casey Klahn September 1, 2017, 11:58 AM

    I think there’ve always been some overreaching cops, but they didn’t get filmed in the past like this. Throw the book at all of the cops in that video.

    As far as the nurse is concerned, she also has a civil suit she should pursue. Putting myself in her shoes at the scene, after being threatened with arrest for refusing the order (the cop had no authority to order her to do anything except to cease doing something unlawful), I would’ve clocked-out of my shift and made the nurse supervisor deal with the situation.

    This is also the sort of thing that I feel implicates the chief of police and the mayor. Egregious stuff.

  • Casey Klahn September 1, 2017, 12:00 PM

    I think there’ve always been some overreaching cops, but they didn’t get filmed in the past like this. Throw the book at all of the cops in that video.

    As far as the nurse is concerned, she also has a civil suit she should pursue. Putting myself in her shoes at the scene, after being threatened with arrest for refusing the order (the cop had no authority to order her to do anything except to cease doing something unlawful), I would’ve clocked-out of my shift and made the nurse supervisor deal with the situation.

    This is also the sort of thing that I feel implicates the chief of police and the mayor. Egregious stuff.

    Comments are a bit wonky. They disappear or delay.

  • John Lamade September 1, 2017, 12:01 PM

    I agree that one bad apple can spoil the public’s perception of the profession. The solution is for police officers to maintain their professionalism. In this situation, there was no excuse for the officer’s misbehavior. He should be punished because his behavior was criminal. I do worry about the safety of police officers and how certain sectors of society malign and misrepresent some of the finest and bravest people in the U.S. But you shouldn’t — no, can’t — hide malfeasance.
    One of the other problems is that some lionize criminals and hold them to be victims when they are/were anything but victims of oppressors. A large part of the public misunderstanding is the media, which should be held accountable for their reporting and political stances. There should be consequences.

  • Casey Klahn September 1, 2017, 12:01 PM

    I think there’ve always been some overreaching cops, but they didn’t get filmed in the past like this. Throw the book at all of the cops in that video.

    As far as the nurse is concerned, she also has a civil suit she should pursue. Putting myself in her shoes at the scene, after being threatened with arrest for refusing the order (the cop had no authority to order her to do anything except to cease doing something unlawful), I would’ve clocked-out of my shift and made the nurse supervisor deal with the situation.

    This is also the sort of thing that I feel implicates the chief of police and the mayor. Egregious stuff.

  • Casey Klahn September 1, 2017, 12:02 PM

    I think there’ve always been some overreaching cops, but they didn’t get filmed in the past like this. Throw the book at all of the cops in that video.

    As far as the nurse is concerned, she also has a civil suit she should pursue. Putting myself in her shoes at the scene, after being threatened with arrest for refusing the order (the cop had no authority to order her to do anything except to cease doing something unlawful), I would’ve clocked-out of my shift and made the nurse supervisor deal with the situation.

    This is also the sort of thing that I feel implicates the chief of police and the mayor. Egregious stuff.

  • Larry September 1, 2017, 1:50 PM

    Those officers who stood by and watched this happen are just as guilty as the perpetrator. Any one of those officers could have stopped this by intervening. Their choice not to do so is not excusable by any law, policy, rule, regulation, or procedure. They should have arrested the detective right then. And, yet, he still walks free.

  • Rob De Witt September 1, 2017, 2:19 PM

    Yup, he and his supervisor should both be in prison, but that probably will never happen. What her lawyers need to insist upon is that both cops be fired FOR CAUSE.

    Cops get fired for various and sundry reasons all the time, and it’s often only a blip in their career path. I guarantee, though, that the words FOR CAUSE in their jacket will ensure that they won’t be cops again, anywhere.

  • Tom Hyland September 1, 2017, 2:27 PM

    This incident highlights the disappearance of the 4th Amendment. Remember that one? “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The nurse was following hospital policy and protecting the rights of the incapacitated patient who’s blood the criminal cop was going to seize come hell or high water. The cop IS going to see some hell now! I’ve read elsewhere she was released with no charges. This sort of incident certainly puts LEO’s at risk for loss of job, massive civil fines, and hopefully some jail time.

  • Casey Klahn September 1, 2017, 3:19 PM

    My comments don’t go through. Some glitch. I’ll just add that the cop is ugly, too.

  • Vanderleun September 1, 2017, 4:22 PM

    Casey, for some reason that eludes me, sometimes your comments go through and sometimes they are held in moderation although I have NEVER asked the system to do that.

    I check once or twice a day but not always when they are made. I haven’t lost any comments yet.

  • Extraveritas September 1, 2017, 5:13 PM

    For the other cops and the ‘men’ who allowed the thug to kidnap the nurse … “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

  • Casey Klahn September 1, 2017, 5:18 PM

    It occurs randomly but ever since the format change. Not every time, but maybe every fifth time or so. Some do get lost, some are moderated so late, but my usual cussing doesn’t seem to be the cause of bumping into moderation. Wordpress?

  • Vanderleun September 1, 2017, 5:43 PM

    I agree it is random and I don’t know why. I’ve tried to find out, but no joy.

  • Nori September 1, 2017, 8:02 PM

    Same here,happened twice a month or so ago. No naughty language was involved. Like Casey, I attributed it to ghosts-in-the-machine format change. My tinfoil cowgirl hat says possible nefarious agents have great interest in this site,and eff with it accordingly, but that’s just impossible.

  • jwm September 1, 2017, 9:11 PM

    Nori wrote:
    “My tinfoil cowgirl hat says possible nefarious agents have great interest in this site,and eff with it accordingly, but that’s just impossible.”
    Yeah. We’d have to be living in some paperback novel sci-fi dystopia where the government and big corporations spied on everything you wrote, or bought, or said, and followed you every place you went. And if you said a wrong thing they could just…

    You’re right. It’s impossible.

    JWM

  • David September 2, 2017, 12:25 AM

    “I agree that one bad apple can spoil the public’s perception of the profession.”

    No, the real problem is that all of the “good cops” circle the wagons and protect the bad ones. This cop should be charged for multiple crimes, full stop. But instead, he will be given a paid vacation until the trouble blows over and then he will be re-assigned.

    The law enforcement profession has a serious image problem, and it is 100% self-inflicted due to their refusal to effectively police their own ranks.

  • Jewel September 2, 2017, 1:45 AM

    For every guilty Jeff Payne, you often get an innocent Daniel Holtzclaw:
    http://www.holtzclawtrial.com/

  • John Lamade September 2, 2017, 7:00 AM

    Here’s some more fuel for the fire. This incident occurred in June 2017. Between the incident and the posting of the video on the Internet, the police did not apologize, the University and SLC police department did not discipline the officers involved, and no actions were taken to support the nurse. The only way that she can get justice is through social media. It seems that true justice will only be obtained if the Mayor, Police Commissioner (the top brass), DA, and university officials are dismissed. The scary thing about all this is how would matters been different if had been a black-white or white-black incident. Ideally, the matter should have been dealt with immediately with extreme prejudice toward the officers regardless of racial issues.

  • Deana September 2, 2017, 7:32 AM

    A couple of thoughts:

    1. I’m a nurse at a large university hospital and this made my blood boil. However it is very unclear to me why there weren’t additional supervisors / hospital execs present. Did this happen as quickly as it appeared to in the video or had this been going on for some time? I just felt like the nurse was left alone with only someone on the phone.

    2. I must say that [ I have NEVER had ]a negative encounter with any security guard, police officer, prison guard or detective at the hospital. They are always good to us and help us out. In addition, a lot of cops and nurses are married to each other or have them in their families. I find it hard to believe that many police officers support what Payne did. That being said, if a profession wishes to be seen in a positive light by the public, it MUST police its own.

  • Deana September 2, 2017, 7:34 AM

    Sorry – I meant to type above that I have NEVER had a negative encounter . . .

  • dhmosquito September 2, 2017, 8:47 AM

    Maybe things are starting to happen: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-41134797

  • Tom Hyland September 2, 2017, 9:07 AM

    Back to that troublesome ol’ Constitution… that cop couldn’t become a cop until he pledged an Oath to both the Federal and State Constitutions. That doesn’t mean he’s allowed to cherry pick which laws he likes and those he shall ignore. He agreed to uphold and defend the entire lot. He pledged an Oath to uphold the 4th Amendment and the man is in violation of his Oath. He must be fired and punished…. or else there is no law.

  • GoneWithTheWind September 2, 2017, 9:18 AM

    I feel the same outrage but there is missing information. What, exactly, is the law. The police are “obliged” to take a suspect to the hospital for a blood draw if drugs or alcohol is suspected in a crime. Can a hospital simply decide not to cooperate? Can anyone decide to not cooperate? Yes, I believe that the cop over stepped, but if the hospital is wrong and they cannot legally refuse to draw the blood wouldn’t that make the cop ‘right’? I know for a fact that if any doctor believed that a blood draw was necessary in order to provide appropriate care that they would draw the blood. So why not draw the blood??? Don’t get me wrong, the nurse was unwillingly and innocently placed in the middle of this but what, exactly, is the law?

  • Vanderleun September 2, 2017, 9:54 AM

    The management of American Digest spares no expense to make the details of what the law actually is available at the link to the Utah Paper. In addition, the nurse herself repeats the law in the video and offers the cop a print out. The exact state of the law in Utah is summarized in the linked article and I won’t repeat it hear.

    Next, the management of American Digest spares no expense to note that there is a difference between what doctors do to treat the patient vs what cops do with people unconscious in the ER. The former is done to treat, the latter to condemn.

  • Tom Hyland September 2, 2017, 10:45 AM

    Back to the basics, dear GoneWithTheWind… the LAW in this case is focussed upon your rights protected by the Constitution. The cops or the DA must submit a request for a warrant to collect what they are seeking and signed by a judge. The very foundation of a Republic is that laws are WRITTEN. When cops and lawyers and legislators deviate from the written law… when they act out a personal improvisation under color of law… now it is anarchy. The policy at the hospital was in harmony with the Constitutions, both State and Federal. The cop was operating outside of his authority, in direct violation to his Oath, and he must be reprimanded.

  • Monty James September 2, 2017, 10:46 AM

    What Deana said. Where was the doctor (supervisor, nurse, I’m ignorant) whose department that was, rolling up with fire in their eye telling that clown to get the fnck out of my ER?

  • Casey Klahn September 2, 2017, 11:07 AM

    It appears to me that one supervisor (departmental) was present with the nurse, and you hear his retort to the cops in the extended vids. Further, she had her higher authority on the speaker on her cell phone, and he pleaded with Payne.

    Someone upthread mentions the mayor of SLC. I looked *her* up. I suggest she’ll be no help, as I perceive mayoral and gubernatorial Leftists are more than happy to give you the authoritarian shaft whenever possible.

  • ed in texas September 2, 2017, 1:33 PM

    Two predictions:
    (1) Officer Payne will skate based on qualified immunity. He may never see another promotion in his career.
    (2) There’s a large ‘official oppression’ lawsuit about to land on SLC. Lawyers are probably flying in now since they saw this.

    (Side point that has surfaced. Payne himself is a state licensed phlebotomist, and has take blood samples from suspects in the past. He had to have probable cause or permission. In this case he tried to force somebody else to do it because he legally couldn’t.)

  • DeWalt September 2, 2017, 3:48 PM

    I am a Deputy Sheriff. Had I been present the detective would have been disarmed and arrested, period… A supervisor would have been summoned and he would have been jailed in a different jurisdiction. She does not have to charge him. I would initiate the charges based on what I witnessed.
    People please don’t think this is normal. Most officers would not have done this or let it happen.

  • DeWalt September 2, 2017, 3:53 PM

    Also, the prosecutor in that jurisdiction can charge the detective base on the video alone. Let’s see if they are self motivated there.

  • GoneWithTheWind September 2, 2017, 4:12 PM

    I’m not trying to be argumentative but I think we are talking about different things. In my state and I believe (could be wrong) in every state if you are suspected of driving drunk and refuse or do not take the sobriety test the police are allowed to get a blood test for intoxicants. The problem in this case is that the hospital has a policy (not a law and not the constitution) that disallows a blood test on an unconscious patient. I believe higher courts have stated that the act of driving or having a license to drive is defacto permission to test you in the event of suspected DUI. It is common in my state that a driver who is suspected of being drunk gets a blood test in the hospital. I’m not trying to justify what the officer did or make excuses. But I would like to know; was it the hospital that made this policy and decided not to cooperate or the city, county, state? It appears to be a hospital policy.

  • ed in texas September 2, 2017, 4:46 PM

    From Reason.com’s Hit and Run blog:
    The patient, William Gray of Idaho, was driving a semi truck in Northern Utah when he was struck head-on by a man who veered into oncoming traffic on a highway in Wellsville on July 27. That driver, who died in the crash, was fleeing from the police in a high-speed chase. Utah Highway Patrol officers were responding to calls about an erratic driver, and the man, Marco Torres, 26, led police on a chase rather than get pulled over and detained.

    So Gray’s terrible injuries were a consequence of a police chase that he had absolutely nothing to do with. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    It also turns out that Officer Payne had been removed from blood draw duties for violation of regulations. Lawsuit settled out of court.

  • Casey Klahn September 2, 2017, 5:56 PM

    Gone with the Wind: she states in the video that the PD signed off on the policy. No blood when: no warrant, no consciousness or consent (what she said, in effect), and no arrest.

    The Reason blog makes one suspect the PD was trying a CYA maneuver.

    I’d say we need to put the hammer down on police precincts and mayors. Fire the chief, investigate the mayor, and fire middle management police in SLC. Of course, the detective needs some healthy hail time. What was his urgency about; the driver would still have blood at a later date.

    Of course, I’m the guy still angry at Oregon for the wrongful police shooting of LeVoy Finicum…

  • Guildofcannonballs September 2, 2017, 7:11 PM

    You people aren’t aware of Officer Jim Lahey from the Canadian Trailor Park Boys. You look like Leheay and you got problems.

    People pay for that knowledge, $200 per day plus expenses Rockfordwardwise.

    I just bought season one and have not been disappointed.

  • Gordon September 2, 2017, 8:53 PM

    If, indeed, this happened in July, and the officer was only suspended this week, then there needs to be a housecleaning in the SLC cop shop.

    But you’re right, Gerard, about this putting other cops at risk. The thing is, there is a general atmosphere of “we’re above the law” in a lot of police departments. I was talking to a Minneapolis cop recently. A lot of them have acquired the habit of using their flashing lights to cross against traffic signals when there’s no other traffic. They aren’t in a hurry to get anywhere; they just don’t want to sit at a red semaphore light.

    I told him that doing that really pisses off ordinary citizens. He seemed totally clueless about this. He doesn’t understand why people would be angry about it.

  • Christopher Cavanaugh September 3, 2017, 1:53 AM

    The officer was absolutely wrong, the ruling from the court states that. He should be fired for official misconduct, false arrest, incompetence and interfering with emergency personal. As well as she has a great civil lawsuit. In the end he will be sorry, she will be paid and GOD only knows the outcome of the poor unconscious guy, he probably has a civil action as well if the police didn’t kill him in a (I’m sure) unnecessary chase.

  • A. Foster-Grant September 3, 2017, 4:20 AM

    Some cops must believe they are the law and make it up as they go. Once, while biking on a non-busy street at 6am on a Sunday, a cop stopped me and said I was blocking traffic and that bikes were not allowed on city streets. He said he would arrest me if he saw me riding on a street again. He headed East. I rode West, and never saw him again.

  • Kevin Dickson September 3, 2017, 7:43 AM

    When you finally satiate yourself on sympathy for the nurse and the drunken driver…at the expense of the police…Consider my story. Christmas day 1984…my son is T-Boned by a drunk driver with 6 prior DWI’s. Virtually the same scenario plays out in the emergency room. We never got that blood sample….which allowed the drunk drive to do the one thing my crippled son would never do. He walked out of the Hospital on both legs. Less than a year later…….he killed a mother and her two daughters in a head on collision.

  • Monty James September 3, 2017, 8:28 AM

    There’s no drunk driver involved. The unconscious man in the emergency room was put there as the result of a high speed pursuit, he was a truck driver whose rig was struck head-on by a man trying to evade arrest. He had nothing to do with the pursuit, he was on the wrong stretch of road at the wrong time. Because I take you at your word about the horrible thing which happened to your son, a gentle suggestion, meant to help the conversation; go read the article.

  • Monty James September 3, 2017, 8:44 AM
  • Casey Klahn September 3, 2017, 9:11 AM

    I’ll never forget the time I was commuting to work on the 90, the bitter Western end of it where it bank curves to the right and ends at the 5, in Seattle. It was congested, rush hour traffic, and some dipspit was road raging in the left lanes because they weren’t swooft enough, or some BS, and the offending slow car, driven by a lady, pulls over to the left hand shoulder with some type of motor distress. A long-haul trucker changes lanes, as smooth as if he were driving a roadster, in front of Mr Rage and cutting him off cleanly, and stops directly behind the lady. 20 year old memory but it went about like that.

    The truckers in America are not a drunken horde. They are professionals. I support the cops, but they are also the instrument of the law and bear tremendous authority.

    Anyway, the cards are laid out on the table. SLC needed that blood to besmirch the trucker somehow, which probably wasn’t going to happen anyway. Like I said upthread: mow the city governance down with a sickle and start over. SLC, it’s your chance to shine. If it doesn’t get cleared up, I’ll bet there’ll be an authoritarian Lefty regime in your near future. Antifa? Antifa? Calling Antifa, stage left.

  • pbird September 3, 2017, 9:49 AM

    Two things. It reminds me of the cops attempt to find something to pin on the victim of the Somali “cop” in Minneapolis.
    Also, there is a big element of mormon in the blood draw story. Mormon men expect women to back down no matter what. I just betcha he was one. They don’t care about the law, obviously.

  • Dr. Mabuse September 3, 2017, 11:32 AM

    Casey, I have my own “Thank a trucker” story. I was driving the Ontario 401 highway with my daughter, and carefully signalled to move into the right-hand lane, as my exit was a mile or so away. At the same time, someone speeding in that lane figured that was a good moment to pass me on the right. About a quarter mile behind us, a trucker, with an unimpeded view from his seat high in his cab, saw what was happening and honked his horn. It made me veer back into my lane before the other car could hit me, before I even really realized what the danger was. I’ve never forgotten that helpful trucker; I wish I could have thanked him at the time.

  • Casey Klahn September 3, 2017, 12:30 PM

    Dr Mabuse, good one. I was *taught* by drunken natives to expect (!) to be passed at high speed on the right. And, that even if it’s a gravel bank and not a shoulder or lane.

    Glad you’re well.

  • Callmelennie September 3, 2017, 3:18 PM

    Casey, my thinking exactly. They needed to get blood from the trucker in order to “find” something incriminating or plant something incriminating in the blood in order to charge contributory negligence by the trucker.

    If that’s the case, I think there’s trouble brewing

  • Janet September 3, 2017, 5:47 PM

    I read that the Semi-truck driver was also a reserve cop employed by SLCPD. Insurance companies often require a blood sample for drug testing in accidents. They may have either been trying to cover their ass or as the detective claimed, trying to protect the victim by proving he wasn’t under the influence when the accident occurred. In either case it’s an illegal search when the person doesn’t give their consent, is not under arrest. That’s the real crime here. The fact that a detective either doesn’t know or doesn’t respect illegal search requirements and that the other officers present let him just get away with it. Frightening.

    The detective threatening to retaliate by only bring them transients was despicable.

  • Bill Jones September 3, 2017, 6:28 PM

    The filth are now what they’ve always been: the retail distributors of the main product of the State, violence.

  • Ted Bopp September 4, 2017, 7:49 AM

    Let’s get real. The man’s injuries were the result of a police chase for which the police might have some liability. They wanted a blood sample in the hopes there would be something to muddy the waters or possible put him at fault. They were not looking to protect him from anything, they were looking to cover their own asses.

  • John The River September 4, 2017, 4:20 PM

    “The man’s injuries were the result of a police chase for which the police might have some liability. They wanted a blood sample in the hopes there would be something to muddy the waters or possible put him at fault. ”

    Good point. Better point is that under that set of circumstances, the blood draw AND TESTING should be done by an unbiased agency, i.e. a warrant requesting the hospital perform the draw and test the blood. Chain of evidence passing through the hands of a interested party (The Police), in a situation where the police department or it’s members stood a chance of legal or civil charges that could be negated if the persons blood should be ‘found’ to contain a illegal substance. That’s what this nurse might have prevented.
    The cop was certainly irate over something. Very irate. Very.

  • Tom Hyland September 5, 2017, 4:51 PM

    Chief of Police in Salt Lake City is a guy named Brown. If you want to email him a message… just to thank him for hiring Officer Pain who’s keeping the Constitution safe… protecting out freedom… following orders… arresting people like Nurse Wubbells who obstruct justice… that kind of thing…. he’s at: askthechief@slcgov.com

  • Bill Jones September 5, 2017, 6:33 PM

    “Every day cops bust down doors, invade homes, and attack peaceful people in their sleep. People who become cops choose to harm peaceful people. In a free society, they would be the crooks and we would hire peaceful security officers to protect ourselves from them.”

    Rockwell.