Cop tickets ambulance with patient

m21sniper · 06-15-2009, 10:03 PM

COP PULLS OVER AMBULANCE WITH PATIENT, ARRESTS PARAMEDIC.

AP –

By SEAN MURPHY, Associated Press Writer – Mon Jun 15, 10:02 pm ET

OKLAHOMA CITY – Bothered that an ambulance driver failed to yield to him as he raced to provide backup on a call — and angered further when he thought the driver flipped him an obscene gesture — state Trooper Daniel Martin decided to stop the ambulance and give the driver a piece of his mind.
(so what happened to the back up call the cop was 'racing' to? suddenly it became not so important apparently)

What Martin didn't know then, his lawyer said Monday, was that there was a patient in the back of the ambulance.

"He's not this ogre, this depriver of people's rights," the trooper's attorney, Gary James, said. "He's a good man."

Since a cell phone video of the dispute taken by the patient's son was released last month, Martin has faced criticism and has been placed on paid leave pending an investigation. The patient, Stella Davis of Boley, was eventually treated and released from the hospital, but relatives and others have questioned why the ambulance was stopped and pushed for answers.

After the trooper stopped the vehicle, a paramedic jumped from the back and demanded that Martin talk to him instead of the driver, according to a longer video, taken by the dashboard camera in Martin's cruiser, that authorities released over the weekend.

"You get back in the ambulance, I'm talking to the driver," Martin said.

"I'm in charge of this unit, sir," the paramedic tells Martin, an Iraq war veteran who returned from the Middle East about a month before the May 24 incident in Paden, 40 miles east of Oklahoma City.

Martin tells the driver he's going to give him a ticket for failure to yield.

"I ain't going to be putting up with that (expletive)," Martin said. "You understand me?"

Then the paramedic, Maurice White Jr., said: "And I won't put up with you talking to my driver like that."

The situation escalates, with White repeatedly telling Martin he has a patient that he wants to take to the hospital, and Martin telling him to get back in the ambulance. They soon begin scuffling on the side of the road as Martin attempts to arrest White, at one point grabbing him by the throat, video shows.

Martin's attorney said the trooper — whom he described as a decorated sailor and a 15-year law enforcement veteran — didn't realize there was a patient in the ambulance until well after the situation had intensified. He either didn't hear it or it didn't register, he said.
(the paramedic told the cop over and over on the video of this incident that he had a patient)

Martin was trying to make a legitimate traffic stop, James said, when White became hostile, refused to comply with the patrolman's orders and caused the situation to spiral out of control.

James said the law allows an officer to pull over an ambulance if its emergency lights and sirens aren't running, as was the case in this incident.

Thompson Gouge, spokesman for the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, which employs White as a paramedic, said the use of lights and sirens depends on the patient's medical situation. Sometimes the lights and sirens often won't be used when patients are transported to the hospital in order to keep them calm.

White's attorney, Richard O'Carroll, said the veteran paramedic was trying to protect his patient and that the trooper had no reason to stop the ambulance, let alone try and arrest White. The trooper's arms were bruised when White resisted arrest, James said.

"If the guy was bruised, it didn't make any difference," O'Carroll said. "He ought not to stop ambulance drivers for hurting his feelings."

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porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Ya its big news around here. Seems the trooper will probably lose his job.

m21sniper · 06-15-2009, 10:09 PM

The amusing part is that the cop was mad that the ambulance didn't yield to him because he was 'racing to a call', but he had time to pull over the ambulance, berate the driver, and even after he knew there was a patient, to detain the vehicle, instead of letting it go, he figured he'd go full fledged gestapo and start a scuffle with a trained paramedic because of his need to "one up" the guy and arrest him, presumably to "win" the confrontation.

I sure do hope they fire him.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Oh no he didn't pull him over while he was on a call. He pulled him over later after the call he was on was over.

LeeH · 06-15-2009, 10:15 PM

Heel n Toe · 06-15-2009, 10:16 PM

It would've all gone much more quickly if he had just tazed everyone and thrown them in the back seat of his patrol car.

Then he could get back to the backup he was racing to, right?

m21sniper · 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by porsche4life

Oh no he didn't pull him over while he was on a call. He pulled him over later after the call he was on was over.

Hahah, that's even better.

That they would do all this with a patient who needs to get to the hospital in the back is beyond comprehension. And then to tell a bold faced lie and say he "didn't know" there was a patient.

Sigh.

Rick Lee · Rick Lee's Garage

I heard the patient in the ambulance was treated and released. Imagine the lawsuit if the stop had resulted in further injury to the patient. Sounds like this guy shouldn't be a cop.

artplumber · 06-15-2009, 10:37 PM

It is never a cop's fault. Didn't you read the story, the ambulance (driver) should always yield to the policeman and know his place.

Boomtown Rat · Boomtown Rat's Garage

It wasn't these guys?

emcon5 · emcon5's Garage

Cops dash cam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4G37Ouy164

Cop certainly could have handled it better, but:

The ambulance driver (like damn near everyone else on the road any more) needs to pay attention. The car in front of the ambulance appeared to have heard heard the siren and pulled over (as the ambulance did not have emergency lights on). Ambulance drifts across the center line to go around the car which was doing what it was supposed to do.

Cop got to where he was going, saw there was a bunch of other cops there, and went back after the ambulance.

The guy who the trooper wanted to arrest (and ended up fighting with) was not the driver, he was the "supervisor" who kept butting in, keeping the cop from talking to the guy he wanted to talk to, the driver. He was told to get back in the ambulance several times and did not, he kept up the "I am the boss, talk to me" stuff until the cop decided to arrest him.

HardDrive · 06-16-2009, 12:52 AM

OH PLEASE. They pulled over an ambulance with a freaking patient inside. What kind of lunatic jarhead pulls this kind of crap. I'm not a cop basher by a mile, but this guys an idiot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by emcon5

Cops dash cam.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4G37Ouy164

Cop certainly could have handled it better, but:

The ambulance driver (like damn near everyone else on the road any more) needs to pay attention. The car in front of the ambulance appeared to have heard heard the siren and pulled over (as the ambulance did not have emergency lights on). Ambulance drifts across the center line to go around the car which was doing what it was supposed to do.

Cop got to where he was going, saw there was a bunch of other cops there, and went back after the ambulance.

The guy who the trooper wanted to arrest (and ended up fighting with) was not the driver, he was the "supervisor" who kept butting in, keeping the cop from talking to the guy he wanted to talk to, the driver. He was told to get back in the ambulance several times and did not, he kept up the "I am the boss, talk to me" stuff until the cop decided to arrest him.

924slover · 06-16-2009, 01:35 AM

I'm sorry but only an ass of a cop pulls over and detains an ambulance with a patient in the back. Should the ambulance have moved over yes the blame is shared but Once he realized that there was a patient in the ambulance he could have taken care of him being butt hurt at a different time but NOT while they have a patient IN the vehicle. Hopefully Karma puts him in an ambulance one day heading for treatment at the hospital and they're pulled over by the state appointed gestapo.
/END RANT

VINMAN · 06-16-2009, 04:27 AM

Moron on a power trip! Hope he gets permanent desk duty.

Back when I was fire chief, we had a call for an MVA with entrapment. The route to the scene took us past an area where the county fair was going on. The road had a lane narrowed with traffic cones to direct parking for the fair. The towns "finest" were also directing traffic. As one of our trucks went by, it knocked over a traffic cone. Apparently one of the cops took umbrage to this.
Later that day, I received a phone call from said officer. he needed to know who the driver of fire truck # _-_ was, and he needed to speak to him. I asked if there was a problem. He told me he needed to instruct him about proper driving and response procedures, and how dare he run over a single cone that he placed.
I asked him if this was some kind of joke. He said "I dont joke about my job, and you need to reign your drivers in". I said we were responding to a serious call and I didnt give a crap about his cone and how dare he call me with this BS. He ranted on about the truck not stopping and knocking over his cone, and how he wanted to write up the driver of the truck. I politely ( not really) proceeded to tell him to go fuch himself. I hung up on him, and called the police chief. Needless to say he caught a ton of crap for that move.

dad911 · 06-16-2009, 04:52 AM

Mother, Jugs, and Speed.....

lm6y · 06-16-2009, 04:57 AM

I just watched the video on Good Morning America. There is no way, the cop can claim he didn't know about the patient. The video was taken by THE PATIENTS FAMILY! This guy needs to lose his job, period. A lot of these "Officers" are just paramilitary wannabe kiddies with a Napolean complex.

I just dealt with an ISP that called me a liar over a seatbelt ticket. The local cop that knows me, decided to stop when I was leaning in the ISP cruiser's window explaining to him why he was not going to call me a liar.

I know that sounds like I'm anti - cop, but that's not the case. My Father put over 20 years in the job. I respect the badge, but not necessarily the guy wearing it.

Eric 951 · 06-16-2009, 05:00 AM

Trooper should be fired--what a complete ass. Imagine if he had pulled over a "regular joe" . Nothing but a douche on a power trip.

T77911S · 06-16-2009, 05:14 AM

suspended with pay? come on. thats like getting caught skipping school then they suspend you for it so you get more time out of school.

GH85Carrera · GH85Carrera's Garage

I can't believe it but for once I sort of agree with Sniper. That cop should assigned a desk job not fired. He is a total ass on a power trip. He should not be on patrol. He did NOT taze the guy beat on him. He showed very bad judgment. Assigning him to a desk job until he is ready to retire.

widebody911 · widebody911's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

Assigning him to a desk job until he is ready to retire.

No. Fire his ass. With a desk job he still gets to leech off the system (pension, benefits, etc) - he needs to be thrown out and fend for himself. He's forfeited any right to suckle off the public teat.