A policeman caught on video roughly handcuffing a nurse because she refused to allow blood to be drawn has been fired.
A spokesperson for the Salt Lake City Police Department said Detective Jeff Payne was fired after an internal investigation found he violated department policy when he arrested nurse Alex Wubbels at the University of Utah Hospital on July 26.
His supervisor, Lt James Tracy, was demoted to officer, according to ABC News.
The case caught worldwide attention after the body camera video from the officers was released by nurse Wubbels and her lawyer in late August.
The short clip showed her explaining hospital policy, which required a warrant or formal honest to draw blood from a patient who had been injured in a car crash.
The patient in question was not suspected of any wrongdoing.
According to the New York Post, he was an off-duty reserve Idaho police officer driving a semitrailer that was hit by a man trying to escape police in a pickup truck.
Payne persisted, telling Wubbels that the evidence would in fact protect the man. He told the nurse that his supervisor said he should arrest her if she didn’t allow the man’s blood to be drawn.
Tracy arrived at the scene after Wubbels was handcuffed and arrested that she should have allowed the blood to be drawn.
Nurse Wubbels was later released without charge.
Both officers were under investigation and placed on administrative leave after the video was released earlier this summer.
