On July 26, 2017, Alex Wubbels refused to allow Jeff Payne to draw blood from an unconscious patient who had been involved in a fiery crash in Cache County earlier in the day.
Wubbels pointed out that the crash victim was not under arrest, that Payne did not have a warrant to draw the blood and that he could not obtain consent from the patient because the man was unconscious.
Payne insisted he had implied consent to get the blood and eventually arrested Wubbels. He handcuffed her and placed her in a police car outside the hospital, then released her after about 20 minutes. Charges were never filed against Wubbels.
Video of Wubbels arrest blew up on the internet and made national news. Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown later fired Payne.
“She kept struggling with me,” Payne said. “So I had to use that little bit of force to get her out the door and get this situation under control.”
Detective Jeff Payne wants you to know that he doesn’t think he did anything wrong and he isn’t sorry.
Payne filed papers with the city last fall threatening to sue for $1.5 million associated with lost wages and benefits, emotional distress and defamation of character. He has not filed a lawsuit so far.
But Payne said he doesn’t have any ill will toward Wubbels.
“She was doing her job,” he said. “I was doing my job. And unfortunately, it conflicted. And I am the one who bears most of the burden for it.”
Payne sat down with FOX 13 for his first interview since Wubbel’s attorney last August released police body camera footage that showed the arrest, which drew widespread condemnation.
Meanwhile,
Police officer who handcuffed Utah nurse Alex Wubbels gets hired at Weber County jail
Jeff Payne, the former Salt Lake City police officer who handcuffed nurse Alex Wubbels, has been hired to work at the Weber County jail, a human resources employee confirmed.
He says in his notice of claim that Salt Lake City made him the “fall guy” to sidestep the focus of national outrage. He accuses the department of having an out-of-date and inaccurate policy manual, which led to confusion. He said he arrested Wubbels only at the command of his supervisor, then-Lt. James Tracy.
Tracy was demoted to the rank of officer in September 2017 after Brown determined Tracy made the “completely unreasonable” order that Payne make the arrest. The former commander appealed the demotion, saying it amounted to excessive discipline.
Salt Lake City’s Civil Service Commission agreed in April with Brown’s decision to demote Tracy two steps to a “police officer III” position.
The Civil Service Commission is a three-member body that hears appeals from police and fire department employees who believe their discipline was unfair.
Tracy argued in his appeal that he didn’t order Wubbels’ arrest that day but had told Payne only that “he should consider” handcuffing the nurse.
Tracy also asserted in his appeal that Brown’s letter of discipline did not address the fact that the blood draw policy agreed upon between the hospital and the police department was never made known to Tracy — or any officer his level or below.
Payne is still appealing his firing. His hearing was supposed to be in July, but it was canceled and will be rescheduled.
In the appeal, Payne argues his firing was improper due to a “lack of prior disciplinary history” and “circumstances of the events leading up to the disciplinary decision.”
His disciplinary history includes a reprimand for sexually harassing another department employee “over an extended period of time” several years ago and a 1995 violation of department policies tied to a vehicle pursuit.
Wubbels reached a $500,000 settlement in late 2017 with the U. and Salt Lake City. The nurse said at the time that she would use a portion of the money to help people get body camera footage, at no cost, of incidents involving themselves.
Utah requires jail or prison guards, typically referred to as corrections officers, to have specialized training. Since Payne is working in a civilian position, he does not need that training.
Darya Kustova: Justice for Alex Wubbels!
ABSURD | TRASHY | SCANDALOUS
Was traveling on Ryanair and this guy kept touching me with his fucking bare feet
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