A police officer who was caught on video forcefully arresting a Utah nurse for refusing to allow law enforcement to draw a blood sample from a patient has been fired from his part-time job as a paramedic, according to The Associated Press.
The ambulance company’s president said Tuesday that Detective Jeff Payne was fired after a video of him surfaced in which he said he would retaliate against the nurse, the AP reported.
Payne was put on paid leave by the Salt Lake City police department after the initial video of him dragging the crying nurse out of the hospital went viral. The hospital has since banned law enforcement officials from interacting directly with its nurses.
The nurse, Alex Wubbels, has not been charged for defending the patient, who was identified as a police officer from Rigby, Idaho.
Salt Lake City Police have begun an internal investigation into the incident, and the city’s mayor has issued an apology on behalf of the officer.
