Officer Placed on Administrative Leave After Disturbing Video Shows Nurse's Arrest
A Utah police officer who roughly placed a nurse under arrest in a disturbing video has been placed on administrative leave, according to authorities.
Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski said there will be a criminal investigation by the police department and the district attorney into what transpired on July 26 when nurse Alex Wubbels was taken into custody after a police detective said she refused to let him take a patient's blood sample.
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Wubbels, who works at University of Utah Medical Center, stood her ground, saying what the officer wanted her to do was against hospital policy.
Detective Jeff Payne wanted to take a blood sample to determine whether the motorist had any illicit substances in his system, but the nurse said blood could not be taken from a patient unless he was under arrest, gave consent or there was a warrant.
In the police bodycam footage shot of the moment, the nurse is on the phone with her supervisors, double checking, just to make certain she was following hospital policy.
"This is something that you guys agreed to with this hospital,” Wubbles told the cop. Her supervisor said on speaker phone. "You’re making a huge mistake because you're threatening a nurse.”
That's when the detective apparently had enough and placed Wubbels under arrest and hauled her out of the hospital. Two hospital workers tried to intervene, but backed off when they were also threatened with arrest.
Wubbles screamed for help as she was pulled into the back of the cop car where she sat for 20 minutes until her release. No charges were filed.
"I feel betrayed, I feel angry, I feel a lot of things,” Wubbels told Inside Edition.
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The officer involved initially remained on duty and was removed from the blood draw program, but since the criminal investigation was announced Friday, he’s been placed on leave.
The University of Utah said in a statement that Wubbels had "followed procedures and protocols in this matter and was acting in her patient's best interest," KUTV reported.
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