SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Authorities say a Utah police officer who was caught on video roughly handcuffing a nurse because she refused to allow a blood draw has been fired.
A Salt Lake City Police spokesman said Chief Mike Brown made the decision Tuesday following an investigation into Detective Jeff Payne, who made the arrest that became a flashpoint in the ongoing national conversation about police use of force.
Body-camera video showed nurse Alex Wubbels explaining hospital policy required a warrant or formal consent to draw blood from the patient injured in a July 26 car crash. Payne had neither but insisted. The dispute ended with him dragging her outside as she screamed she had done nothing wrong.
Police later apologized and changed their policies.
Payne’s lawyer, Greg Skordas, has pointed to the officer’s decorated 27-year history and questioned whether his behavior warranted termination.
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