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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsPOLICE CHIEF THANKS UTAH NURSE FOR STANDING FIRM
RIGBY On July 26 of this year, one of our reserve officers, William Gray, was the victim in a horrific accident in northern Utah while working his full-time job as a truck driver.
The suspect in this incident was fleeing from Utah State Highway Patrol, when he crossed into oncoming traffic and collided head on with Grays truck, severely injuring Gray and killing himself. Officer Gray was flown to the University of Utahs burn unit where he remains under their watchful, professional, and competent care.
Within the first hours of Officer Gray being admitted into the burn unit, an incident occurred between hospital staff and an officer from an agency in Utah who was assisting with the investigation.
The Rigby Police Department was not aware of this incident until Aug. 31, 2017.
The Rigby Police Department would like to thank the nurse involved and hospital staff for standing firm and protecting Officer Grays rights as a patient and victim. Protecting the rights of others is truly a heroic act.
https://www.eastidahonews.com/2017/09/rigby-police-chief-thanks-nurse-for-standing-firm-in-protecting-officers-rights/
tonyt53
(5,737 posts)Brother Buzz
(36,458 posts)shraby
(21,946 posts)The office obviously hasn't got a modicum of self control. This action he took was against the nurse who was within her rights to deny him compliance. What do you think he would do with someone who defied him who WAS in the wrong? Hmmmmm?
Brother Buzz
(36,458 posts)enough
(13,262 posts)is a member of an entirely different police force.
yardwork
(61,698 posts)onetexan
(13,056 posts)and the department.
cos dem
(903 posts)I'm assuming Rigby Police are not part of SLC, and thus had no involvement. So the letter may be the only "action" they can really take at this point.
mjvpi
(1,389 posts)for allowing the assault and false arrest of this brave woman. It's a good thing that she had white skin or this could have been really ugly.
HAB911
(8,911 posts)for trying to protect a patient. That patient was a reserve officer in IDHis dept. thanked Nurse Wubbles.
Link to tweet
cos dem
(903 posts)KT2000
(20,586 posts)the patient was the victim not the suspect.
Phoenix61
(17,013 posts)anything. That way he couldn't be held responsible for the accident. If your DUI even if the wreck isn't your fault it could be said you didn't do enough to avoid the wreck.
wryter2000
(46,076 posts)Then taking his blood would have been legal. I'll bet he would have consented if he'd been able.
The nurse did exactly the right thing, and I hope she makes a bundle in the lawsuit.
33taw
(2,446 posts)Baconator
(1,459 posts)Honestly, I'm not sure if you're serious.
Hassin Bin Sober
(26,335 posts)And this is why the Nurse has an obligation to sue the cops. And not settle.
I sure would like to hear any radio traffic or conversations caught on dash cams discussing why the cops needed to get blood from a VICTIM.
33taw
(2,446 posts)The police were pursuing a suspect who had a crash with the truck driver/part-time police officer. The suspect died and the truck driver was seriously injured. If the victim was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol his/her claims become very different. The police department's responsibility in having any responsibility in the crash also changes. I believe the police were protecting themselves as much as the victim. They did not have probable cause to take his blood, so they tried to bully the nurse.
Baconator
(1,459 posts)... except on the point that the attempted blood draw was intended to be to the benefit of the victim in any way.
irisblue
(33,018 posts)¬¬for the record, my knowledge of getting a warrant is from tv shows.ฯฯ
The arresting officer's supervisor talks to a DA, DA goes to a judge, judge says yes or no. Why didn't this happen, it's common enough. There are at least 4 layers of personnel besides the RN & the hospital admins & lawyer.
So why,again, wasn't there a warrant?
33taw
(2,446 posts)Therefore, the police had no grounds to ask for a warrant. Also, since it was an active situation - they could have arrested him pending charges - but again, there was no cause for arrest. It is hard to tell if they were protecting themselves because of their actions surrounding the accident or the part-time police officer - or both.
Gore1FL
(21,151 posts)...because apparently that presumption doesn't exist anymore unless they first violate your 4th Amendment rights.
orangecrush
(19,611 posts)In the victims blood, it could be used as evidence against him if he tried to sue the Utah Highway Patrol for being injured as a result of their high speed chase.
CYA.
MrPurple
(985 posts)I doubt they'd go to this trouble to get the blood of a random victim, if the police weren't involved in the chase that caused the crash.
WinkyDink
(51,311 posts)Stupid thug cop.
orangecrush
(19,611 posts)irisblue
(33,018 posts)for drugs and ETOH. So why did the SLC cop want blood work from the unconscious vic? I am still not seeing a rationale for that.
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)tblue37
(65,483 posts)because they might be able to use that to reduce their liability for the accident that injured him and killed the guy they were chasing.
I would also like to know what the guy they were chasing was suspected of. If it was a traffic violation or something that did not rise to a life or death level, then there was no excuse for conducting a high speed chase in traffic. A friend of my son's died at age 18 in 1998 because he was pursued at high speeds through residential areas at 2:00 a.m.
The cops had no probable cause for going after him in the first place. He was just dropping a friend off at his apartment after a night spent celebrating the friend's 20th birthday. But the 20-year-old friend and the 18-year-old driver both had been drinking beer, and there was a 6-pack in the car. The driver was afraid of getting an MIP, so when the cops, who were in the parking lot of the apartment complex, flashed their lights at him, he panicked and drove away with the other boy still in the car, instead of dropping him off.
The cops turned on their siren and went after him, even though as far as they knew, he had done nothing in the first place except for pulling into the parking lot of an apartment building to drop someone off. They were just fishing for something when they flashed their lights, but when he drove away--initially at a normal speed--that gave them an excuse to pursue him.
He crested a hill--again, in a residential area--at speeds well over 100mph, went airborne, and knocked over a traffic sign before wrapping his car around a tree and breaking his neck. He died on impact, and the other boy, who thank goodness was wearing a seatbelt, ended up with dozens of stitches. My son, who was the passenger's roommate but had skipped the birthday celebration because he was studying for an exam, was called to the hospital, and he called me to go with him because he was too shaken to drive.
I saw the car the next day. It was crumpled like a piece of paper. If my son had been with them he would certainly have been killed, too, even though he would have worn a seatbelt, because he would have been sitting behind the driver, and that part of the car was completely crushed.
There was no excuse for the cops to conduct a high speed chase through town that night. Yes, the boys were guilty of underage drinking, and yes, the driver probably had a BAC higher than legally allowed. It was stupid and wrong for him to be driving after drinking. But he did not deserve to die for it, and I still get rather freaked out when I think of how easily my son could have been killed in that crash if he had been a little less focused on acing the test he had coming up that Monday.
Cops get all excited when they start chasing someone. It's an adrenaline high, and some look for excuses to give chase. Justifications for high speed chases should be strictly limited to life and death circumstances, but unfortunately they often are conducted for ridiculous reasons.