Trooper assaults paramedic

[MC15327]

Check out the video.

http://abclocal.go.com/wjrt/story?section=news/national_world&id=6833706

[gabriel]

As always, there's obviously a piece of the puzzle missing. :popcorn:

[sonBPTCHIP]

handled very poorly by all sides...

[agill510]

thats why CHP is the best....OHP....pshhhht...:rolleyes:

[HIPCHIP]

Apparently this guys was code 2 for no apparent reason and got stopped. The driver advised the officer he had a patient and was en-route to the hospital. The paramedic, which was someone who was in the back, I believe, got into it with the officer and the officer advised the paramedic he was under arrest. The paramedic turned and walked away and got back into the ambulance. It was when the paramedic started resisting that the second officer tried to keep the paramedic there by putting his hands near the paramedics neck. The officer wasn't choking the paramedic as he was talking fine.

Sounds like the driver screwed up by speeding without running code and the paramedic treated the officer poorly to the point he was arrested, then he resisted arrest.

Bad situation anyway you look at it, but sounds like the ambulance folks messed up and messed with the wrong guy!

[bcjack]

Apparently this guys was code 2 for no apparent reason and got stopped. The driver advised the officer he had a patient and was en-route to the hospital. The paramedic, which was someone who was in the back, I believe, got into it with the officer and the officer advised the paramedic he was under arrest. The paramedic turned and walked away and got back into the ambulance. It was when the paramedic started resisting that the second officer tried to keep the paramedic there by putting his hands near the paramedics neck. The officer wasn't choking the paramedic as he was talking fine.

Sounds like the driver screwed up by speeding without running code and the paramedic treated the officer poorly to the point he was arrested, then he resisted arrest.

Bad situation anyway you look at it, but sounds like the ambulance folks messed up and messed with the wrong guy!

I wonder what kind of liability they will all incur in regards to the patient's medical care?

The medic for leaving the patient and the Officer for delaying the patient's transport to the hospital...If I was a good lawyer, I'm sure I could come up with some sort of "Additional trauma" for my client that occurred because of the two boys not getting along...:tape:

[alexfarrington]

Dash cam video released:

http://feeds.newsok.tv/services/player/bcpid1681694480?bctid=26257992001

[Watercadet]

What a mess!! :doh:

[alexfarrington]

The picture becomes much clearer... Sounds like both of these men had histories of temper and attitude problems.

Taken from http://newsok.com/rough-reputations-follow-trooper-medic-in-scuffle/article/3379452

Rough Reputations Revealed in Trooper, Medic Scuffle

Embattled rescuers had been fired from other jobs

RON JACKSON AND SHEILA STOGSDILL, Staff Writers
The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK)

Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper Daniel Martin and Creek Nation paramedic Maurice White Jr. - two men thrust into the national media spotlight after a May 24 scuffle - have reputations as bullies and histories of confrontation, former supervisors and employment documents revealed.

Martin's defense attorney, Gary James, portrayed him last week as a loving family man and an "American hero" who recently returned from Iraq after a tour of duty as a U.S. naval reservist. Residents of the rural Osage County town of Fairfax have dramatically different recollections of Martin, who was their police chief from March 1999 to July 2000.

Martin's tenure ended in Fairfax with a unanimous vote for his firing.
"Yeah, I remember him," store clerk Linda Burgess said. "That's a sore subject around here. He left quite an imprint on this community, and not a good one, either. He was a bully with an attitude. "And he was always pulling people over and using the f-word."

James could not be reached for comment.

White, meanwhile, was fired in June 2004 by Muskogee County EMS after more than 11 years of employment. EMS director Terri Mortensen criticized White in a termination letter, citing his "unprofessional behavior" toward her and "misuse of authority over your subordinates." The letter listed other reasons for his termination:

* Failure to complete run sheets in a timely manner.
* Short notice on cancellation of teaching assignment.
* Failure to schedule a relief EMT to cover his shift while he taught a class in a timely manner.

White responded by filing a complaint of racial discrimination with the NAACP, the Muskogee Phoenix newspaper reported at the time. The newspaper further reported the organization originally supported White's cause but later reversed its decision. The NAACP reportedly reviewed the EMS policy and White's termination letter, and concluded he had committed a fireable offense.

Forty of White's former co-workers wrote a letter to the editor of the Muskogee Phoenix in support of White's firing.

When asked about the termination, White's attorney, Richard O'Carroll, responded by saying, "Mr. White declines to engage in this process even though some of the information is inaccurate, incomplete and/or taken out of context. Martin is asking folks not to believe their lying eyes. When you have neither a defense, nor a sense of shame, you simply engage in character assassination."

White was respected in other quarters. In Siloam Springs, Ark., he completed a one-year contract in 1992 as a paramedic for the fire department.

Siloam Springs Fire Chief Jimmy Harris remembered White as "a good medic" and someone "pleasant to be with."

Gary Padgett, who supervised White as a paramedic in Harrison, Ark., in 1991 remembered him as "a pleasant young man" and a true professional.

Martin, meanwhile, served the Stillwater Police Department from October 2000 to March 2007 before being hired by the patrol, Stillwater Police Chief Norman McNickle said. The chief said he was legally restricted from discussing Martin's work history.

But no one expressed such concerns in Fairfax.

Longtime Fairfax barber shop owner Linda Bevill, who cut Martin's hair, described him as a bullish man who ran off teenagers from cruising Main Street and constantly accused people of drinking alcohol during traffic stops.

Former board of trustees member Ted Smith remembered Martin as someone who "didn't take orders very well."

Smith recalled one incident he witnessed in which two handcuffed teenagers were lying face down on the sidewalk. Martin stood over one of the youngsters with his pistol aimed at the youth's head.

"Yeah, we had a lot of trouble with him," Smith said. "We're not surprised at all by what has happened. " ... I always knew he'd be famous some day."

BACKGROUND

What's happened:
→Cell-phone video captured by the son of an ambulance patient was placed on YouTube.
→The video shows state trooper Daniel Martin and paramedic Maurice White Jr. in a May 24 scuffle after Martin pulled over the ambulance in Paden.
→Martin accused the ambulance driver of making an obscene gesture at him, which the driver has denied. The driver was ticketed for failure to yield.
→The Oklahoma Highway Patrol released the dashboard camera video, in which more of the scuffle is seen.
→Martin's attorney portrayed his client as an American hero who just returned from service in Iraq.
→White's attorney responded by calling Martin a bully, and White went on national television to call for Martin to be stripped of his gun and badge.