Salt Lake City police have apologized after an officer handcuffed a hospital nurse for refusing a blood draw from an unconscious patient.
Police spokeswoman Christina Judd said the agency initiated an internal investigation within hours of the July 26 encounter between Detective Jeff Payne and University Hospital burn unit nurse Alex Wubbels that was caught on the officer's body camera.
Payne has been suspended from blood-draw duties but remains in his role as a detective in the investigations unit.
Judd says the assistant chief has apologized to the hospital and that the department is alarmed by what they saw in the video .
Judd said the department is working to investigate what went wrong and is seeking to repair the "unfortunate rift" it has caused.
EARLIER STORY:
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 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.
The dispute ended with Payne telling the nurse she was under arrest and physically moving her out of the hospital while she screamed.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Wubbels was not charged. Police have started an internal investigation, but Payne remains on duty.
Can't see the video? Click here: https://youtu.be/hJPVglqR4yM
