Salt Lake City cop who roughed up nurse in viral video fired from paramedic job

Detective Jeff Payne, the Salt Lake City, Utah, cop videotaped roughing up and handcuffing a nurse in a now viral video was fired from his part-time paramedic / ambulance driver job on September 5.  He wasn’t fired for assaulting nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26 when she wouldn’t hand over a sample of blood to Payne without a warrant.  He was fired after being heard saying on video that he would transport “transient patients to the hospital and take the ‘good patients’ elsewhere to retaliate against nurse Alex Wubbels,” according to CBS News.

Payne’s comments didn’t sit well with his part-time employer, Gold Cross Ambulance President Mike Moffitt, who was quoted by CBS as saying “That’s not the way we conduct our business, that’s not the way we treat people in our city.”  Moffitt first heard Payne’s comments when the arrest video surfaced last week.

“Those remarks are just not reflective of our company’s philosophy and the service we provide and because of that behaviour we felt we had to separate ways,” Moffitt said. “His comments reflected poorly on the company and violated several company policies.”  ~  per MSN

The Salt Lake City Police Department placed Payne on leave with pay after the video showing him pushing nurse Wubbels around first surfaced last week.  Payne became irate when he asked for the blood of an unconscious burn victim and Wubbels respectfully and calmly explained that per hospital policy, she could not release that blood without the victim’s formal consent or a court order. When it became clear that Payne wasn’t going to get that victim’s blood sample, he grabbed Wubbels, pushed and dragged her around and handcuffed her as she cried and screamed for help, that she was being assaulted and that she hadn’t done anything wrong.

A criminal investigation is now underway into Payne’s actions on July 26.  Another officer who accompanied Payne during Wubbels’ arrest was also placed on leave.  That second officer has yet to be identified.  Also a part of the criminal review are the actions of Payne’s supervisor, a police department lieutenant who spoke to Wubbels on the phone during the altercation and told her she would be arrested if she didn’t hand the blood sample over to Payne.

As of this writing, the Salt Lake City Tribune arrest video of Alex Wubbels, displayed below, has over 5,767,700 views.

https://youtu.be/ihQ1-LQOkns

Written by:  Ace News Today Staff