Story highlights 'He could have just packed up and gone home,' police chief said

Judge's order or patient's consent are required for police to get blood sample if patient isn't under arrest

(CNN) The officer at the center of controversy over his treatment of a Utah nurse was told not to worry about obtaining blood from an unconscious car crash victim in the hospital, but tried anyway, Logan Police Chief Gary Jensen told CNN Wednesday.

Salt Lake City Detective Jeff Payne's tense July 26 encounter with Alex Wubbels, a charge nurse at the University of Utah Hospital burn unit, drew national attention after body cam footage of the incident spread online. Wubbels refused to let officers draw a blood sample from the patient, in keeping with hospital policy.

Jensen told CNN his department had initially ordered the sample from the man, who was involved in a crash near Logan, Utah in Cache County. But Logan police asked the Salt Lake City police for help and they dispatched Payne, a trained phlebotomist, to get the blood sample, Jensen said.

At the hospital, Payne relayed his difficulty in getting the blood sample to a Logan detective, who was not at the hospital, Jensen said. According to Jensen, the detective then informed Payne the Logan department could get the blood through other means.

"He didn't tell him you must cease and desist, he simply said 'don't worry about it, we'll go another way,'" Jensen told CNN. "I just don't believe (Payne's) actions were in the best interest of the patient, the nurses or law enforcement, quite frankly.

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