Officer Who Arrested Utah Nurse Placed On Administrative Leave

Police body-cam video of the arrest is getting national attention.

A nurse at a Utah hospital was assaulted by a police officer last month after declining to allow him to obtain a sample of an unconscious patient’s blood because he had neither a warrant nor the patient’s consent, local media reported.

The bodycam footage shows the police officer becoming irritable, and later aggressive, as Wubbels tries to explain that she couldn’t withdraw blood from an unconscious patient because it was not hospital policy. A 2016 U.S. Supreme Court ruling states a blood sample can not be taken without patient consent or a warrant. “It’s your property”, she said. She also consults with other hospital officials, one of whom is heard speaking on a phone saying, to Payne, “You’re making a huge mistake”.

A disturbing video shows a Salt Lake City hospital nurse being arrested while on the job.

Police Chief Mike Brown issued a joint statement with Mayor Jackie Biskupski on Friday, condemning the officer who arrested nurse Alex Wubbles.

Wubbels, from inside the vehicle, screamed for help and that “I did nothing wrong!”

“This is something that you guys agreed to with this hospital”, Wubbels could be heard saying in the video. Somebody help me! Stop!

“You can’t just take blood if you don’t have a legitimate concern for something to be tested”, Wubbels said.

He is seen pulling her arms behind her and places handcuffs around her wrists before yanking her to the back of the patrol auto. “Stop! I’ve done nothing wrong!”

Police released Wubbels without charges after she sat in a police auto for 20 minutes. Payne then says, “We’re done here, I’m leaving now, with her”, charges at Wubbel, and aggressively grabs her and wrestles her into handcuffs.

“I can’t sit on this video and not attempt to speak out both to re-educate and inform”, Karra Porter, Wubbel’s attorney said at the press conference.

According to police spokeswoman Christina Judd, the department updated its blood-draw policy last week and provided its officers with more training.

Salt Lake police Sgt. Brandon Shearer said an internal investigation into the incident has already started.

Payne has been suspended from blood-draw duties but remains in his role as a detective in the investigations unit.