Alex Wubbels' Arresting Officer Jeff Payne Claims He Did Nothing Wrong - Plans to Sue

[tnbutterfly - Mary]

Former Detective Jeff Payne lost his job over his "confrontation" with Nurse Alex Wubbels over a year ago. Now he is saying he did nothing wrong.

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"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 insisted he had implied consent to get the blood sample from a crash victim under Alex Wubbels' care. When she refused, Payne handcuffed her.

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He insists he was only following orders that day - his boss, Lt. James Tracy, had ordered that he arrest Wubbels if she didn't let him draw the patient's blood.

When asked if he thought he used too much force, he said he was just following his training.

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I couldn't believe this incident went worldwide

He plans to seek $1.5 million associated with lost wages and benefits, emotional distress and defamation of character.

What are your thoughts? Should he be awarded $1.5 million for simply "doing his job"?

For more on this story, go to Former Detective Jeff Payne isn't sorry for arresting Alex Wubbels and he plans to sue for $1.5 million - The Salt Lake Tribune

[humerusRN]

This guy lives in some sort of delusional world where he believes that cops just have unbridled power over everyone and everything, and the law doesn't apply to him.

Ugh.

[Wuzzie]

It does seem like they should have both been fired but maybe he had a history of misconduct and his superior didn't. What a piece of work.

He had been disciplined in the not too distant past for sexual harassment and intimidation. Go figure.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

He should be in prison for assault and battery, and kidnapping. because he was not charged and appropriately prosecuted, the state/city left themselves open to this stupidity. He had NO consent to draw that blood. and as far as following orders, perhaps he has forgotten Nuremberg?

Viva, you were too kind, he is not FOS, is POS.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

if he was only following orders and doing as he was told, how come his superior that gave him those orders hasn't faced any repercussions?

actually he got busted to the street, i believe. he should have been fired and prosecuted as well. i was hoping the embarrassment of being busted would cause him to quit, or worse.

[LovingLife123]

He conveniently forgot to tell his superior that the other police dept said to forget about the blood draw. He has no case. That's probably was his superior was not fired. He didn't have all the info.

This guy was looking for conflict that day. Not sure why he thought it was a good idea to cause it in the hospital.

This case will get thrown out. And I can't imagine any jury awarding him money.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

I'm confused. Who is he planning to sue? Everyone?

That's the usual practice.

Frankly, the suit will fail for multiple reasons:

1) There is no "implied consent" for collecting evidence by drawing blood in Utah from an unconscious person to prove criminal intent by intoxication (the primary reason he lists as setting the other events in motion). I've read it multiple times. Judges order specific to the person, date, time (generally obtained by prosecutors). Or actual consent. That's all folks.

2) He's all worked up about only doing what he was told & using force because that nurse resisted arrest. Please, dude, stop, you are looking dumb as a box of rocks. His "boss" (CO) was demoted and he was outright fired. So he has been on the job 30 years and somehow clearly doesnt understand arrest responsibility and procedures by this point. But, it's NOT HIS FAULT, DONT BLAME HIM, HE IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SITUATION HE CREATED -- BLAME EVERYONE ELSE, this is a BAD MOVE, prolly just been that way all his career, perhaps he will reflect, nah, forget it - he will have plently of time to figure out why this sounds like a lot like a whining little kid once he has a Summary Judgement against him.

3) He claims defamation due to the video going public to the extent it did and the resulting traction ruining him. Oh, boy! Let's see officer angry, you were in a public place taking an emergency room nurse into custody complete with handcuffs and perp walking her to a cruiser.

Well, that happens every day. I'm surprised anyone even noticed. Are you kidding me????

And you didn't think anyone would care? That no one would video you. Come on? That there wouldn't be security footage?

I wonder if he thought the sun would come up and everyone go out for forgiveness pancakes and all would be forgotten - sure, no one will remember - happens every. single. shift. nurses. being. arrested. no. big. deal.

I just cannot.

Who does this dude think he is?

Hell, this dude is dumb. Special stupid. I've been practicing like everything that I do once I leave my house is subject to end up on the National News since I've been in Emergency Services for the last approximately 28 years. Someone is ALWAYS watching - something about bright lights, sirens, helicopters, commotion, blood, guts, gore and rubbernecking and general nosiness. And since camcorders, butt phones, iPhones and security cams - I presume I'm recorded ALL THE TIME for the past 15 years - and somehow, someway this super cop/medic MISSED this memo. Since its been my experience that most folks play like they practice, I'd bet this guy has other bad acts that might not have ended up on film - this prolly wasn't his first goat rodeo. He likes goats. Might love them, a lot.

There are hungry, desperate stupid lawyers in every state. Let's see what he does with it. It might be a sham to chum up the water to see if he can force embarrassment or something in advance of having to sue. Maybe get into confidential talks to settle with employer or hospital. I don't see that happening, but there could be other matters. I hope they let him go prostrate on the courthouse steps.

I think this guy needs mental health counseling to move forward.

Accountability is the price you pay for authority. He had authority. He doesn't understand accountability.

For a lawsuit to succeed one has to collect money, that's the currency of civil litigation. Someone has to be WRONG and it can't be YOU.

To review, the hospital is not liable. The nurse is not liable. And the city/PD is not liable (they fired him for P/P violations).

File under delusional.

:angel:

the city/state left themselves open to this. By not prosecuting him and his boss. so they are getting their just desserts here, as well. thank you for your post, I would like it more than once if it were allowed. He got a pass on this, so he has learned nothing. put his butt in jail, were it belongs. along with his then boss.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

What a tool.

[NotAllWhoWandeRN, ASN, RN]

A few VERY important facts:

Alex presented hospital policy that was founded in the local law. Payne refused to abide by it.

He was presenting as angry: you can see Alex's discomfort and her saying she didn't understand why Payne was angry at her personally because she was the messenger. You can hear the higher-up on the phone saying it was a mistake to threaten her. He had apparently been there for hours harassing staff for not doing what he wanted.

Fact: HE DID NOT ATTEMPT A NON-FORCIBLE ARREST. Per his own cam footage, he lunged at her with both hands outstretched before uttering a word. He said "WE'RE DONE HERE" as he tried to lay hands on her. He initiated physical aggression and she backed away out of fear, before he EVER uttered the words "You're under arrest." I'm not a big fan of caps but yeezus, his delusional victimhood makes me rage. The order of behaviors here is CRITICALLY important, and the officer did literally everything wrong.

He's also on cam footage saying he would bring transients to her hospital and "good patients" elsewhere to punish them for not cooperating. Absolutely everything about this case is clear-cut in defense of the hospital and Alex Wubbels, and against the behavior, character, and competency of Payne and his superior that ordered the arrest. He walked in angry and he acted accordingly.

Arrest Footage:

Patient dumping threat:

[cyc0sys]

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[riverotter]

He's not suing her, he's suing for wrongful termination. I googled it.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

True...but he lost his job because he was doing his job. All the rest of it followed as a result of that.

Are you saying he lost his job because he was doing his job correctly and appropriately?

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

if he was only following orders and doing as he was told, how come his superior that gave him those orders hasn't faced any repercussions?

His superior was demoted.