Alarming body camera footage shows nurse being shoved, handcuffed for refusing to allow police to draw blood from her patient without a warrant

Body camera footage shows Alex Wubbels being forced outside to be handcuffed.
(Image credit: Twitter/@NBCNews)

A University of Utah Hospital nurse was roughly grabbed, threatened, and handcuffed by a police detective for refusing to allow him to take blood from a patient without a warrant. The patient was unconscious and unable to give consent, The Washington Post reports. Alarming body camera footage from Detective Jeff Payne of the Salt Lake City police apparently shows nurse Alex Wubbels calmly explaining the law to Payne and getting her supervisor on the phone to back her up.

"Sir, you're making a huge mistake because you're threatening a nurse," Wubbels' supervisor told Payne on speakerphone.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.