A Utah cop has expressed remorse after he handcuffed a hospital nurse who refused to draw blood from an unconscious patient, according to the officer’s lawyer.
And the cop, who was suspended after the incident, says he would do things differently if presented with the same situation.
The Daily Mail of London reported the update in the case of Det. Jeff Payne and nurse Alex Wubbels, citing comments the officer’s lawyer, Greg Skordas, made to local television station KUTV.
“Jeff would love the chance to sit down and apologize for what happened here,” Skordas told the station. “If he could do this over, he would do it over differently.”
The lawyer said there is “the side of this that Jeff would like to tell at some point, and I think that will happen.”
WND reported after the incident took place July 26 that University of Utah hospital officials said they would no longer allow officers to contact nurses directly.
See the incident:
[jwplayer U2tW2Ovy]
It was in a burn unit where Payne confronted Wubbels, demanding that she draw the blood immediately.
The officer grew increasingly volatile as the nurse explained she could not comply without a warrant, patient permission or an announced intent to arrest. The officer finally lost his cool and handcuffed her.
Gordon Crabtree, interim chief executive of the hospital, described the officer’s actions as troubling.
He said the nurse should be praised for “putting her own safety at risk” and promised “this will not happen again.”
Pearce explained officers now will be required to deal with “house supervisors” instead of nurses when they have any request. The move will mean nurses can devote their attention to patient care and leave dealing with police requests to others.
The incident drew nationwide attention through the video, which shows Payne persisting in demanding a blood sample from an unconscious truck driver even though he had neither permission from the patient nor a warrant, as required by state law.
Wubbels explained in an interview with NBC News that it appeared Payne was angry even when he arrived. She said she felt betrayed by both the Salt Lake City police and university security, whose officers were on duty at the hospital.
The nurse has been at the hospital since 2009, after competing in the 1998 and 2002 Winter Olympics as an alpine skier.
The National Nurses United has expressed outrage, and Wubbels has criticized the officer’s actions as “not even civil.”
The officer wanted the patient’s blood sample because of an accident. The patient was driving a truck that collided with a vehicle whose driver was trying to escape from police.
The truck driver was unconscious when he was brought to the hospital, but the officers wanted the blood sample immediately.
The Salt Lake City Tribune reported Payne claimed he was told by Lt. James Tracy, the watch commander, to arrest Wubbels for interference if she refused his demand.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2016 that the Constitution allows warrantless breath tests but not warrantless blood tests.
