Officer lost control before arresting nurse: report
SALT LAKE CITY — A Utah police chief will decide any possible punishment for an officer caught on video dragging a nurse from a hospital and handcuffing her after a review board found he lost control and got aggressive.
It appears Salt Lake City Det. Jeff Payne became upset during a long wait to draw blood from a patient and his frustration spilled over after nurse Alex Wubbels refused under hospital policy, the report from the independent Police Civilian Review board report said.
“His verbal actions were loud, aggressive, and overly mission driven,” the report released Wednesday states, adding that Payne “very clearly lost control of his emotions.”
That report and another from the Salt Lake City Police Department’s internal affairs investigators will be considered by police chief Mike Brown as he weighs possible punishment that could include firing.
Payne’s lawyer, Greg Skordas, said Thursday those conclusions were speculation.
Payne will go before the chief on Sept. 25 to give his side of the story.
Payne’s only previous black mark in his 27-year tenure with Salt Lake City police was a written reprimand from 2013, Skordas said.
The report also faults supervisor Lt. James Tracy, who told Payne to arrest the nurse if she didn’t allow the blood draw, for not seeking legal advice on drawing blood from the carcrash victim without a warrant or formal consent.
Police have since said Wubbels was right, and changed their policy.
Salt Lake police opened an internal investigation a day after the July 26 arrest. Payne and Tracy were put on paid administrative leave after widespread attention followed the release of the body-camera video by Wubbels and her lawyer on Aug. 31.