A police officer has been sacked for handcuffing and forcefully dragging a screaming nurse out of a Utah hospital.

Officers attempted to take blood from an unconscious patient at Salt Lake City University Hospital as he had been in a fatal car incident and they wanted to determine if he was intoxicated or not.

But they were stopped by nurse Alex Wubbels, who said they could not get a sample without a warrant or consent from the patient.

Following a dispute, detective Jeff Payne was captured on bodycam footage telling the nurse "we're done, you're under arrest", before roughly grabbing her and bundling her out of the door.

Image: Ms Wubbels said she was 'bullied...to the utmost extreme'

Video shows Ms Wubbels screaming "stop, I've done nothing wrong" as Payne handcuffs her and pulls her to his car.


Following an internal investigation, Payne was found to have broken police rules and brought his force into "significant disrepute".

In a disciplinary letter, Salt Lake City police chief Mike Brown said he was "deeply troubled" by the officer's conduct, which he described as "inappropriate, unreasonable, unwarranted, discourteous and disrespectful".

Image: Payne told the nurse: 'We're done, you're under arrest'

He added: "You demonstrated extremely poor professional judgement, especially for an officer with 27 years of experience, which calls into question your ability to effectively serve the public and the department."

Payne's supervisor, who ordered the arrest of Ms Wubbels, was also demoted two ranks.

Mr Brown described James Tracy as the "catalyst that led to the arrest" and criticised him for escalating the situation.

He wrote: "Your lack of judgment and leadership in this matter is unacceptable, and as a result, I no longer believe that you can retain a leadership position in the department."

Image: The screaming nurse was dragged from the hospital and cuffed outside

Footage of the incident on 26 July went viral and sparked a national debate over police use of force.

It led to calls for an investigation and for Salt Lake City Police Department to issue an apology to Ms Wubbels.

Following the row, the nurse said Payne had "bullied me to the utmost extreme".

She added: "Even though it might seem like just a simple blood draw, it is not just a simple blood draw to a patient.

"If this patient cannot speak for themselves, I don't have the right to make decisions on their behalf. My choice is to defend them at all costs."