Watch: Utah Nurse Refuses Blood Draw, Is Forcefully Removed From Hospital

SALT LAKE CITY, UT — A Salt Lake City police officer's body camera recorded the officer handcuffing a hospital nurse last month when she refused to blood draw from an unconscious patient. Now, police say they're sorry.

Police launched an internal investigation immediately following the July 26 encounter between Detective Jeff Payne and University Hospital burn nurse Alex Wubbels, police spokeswoman Christina Judd said.

Wubbels calmly informed Payne that she couldn't draw blood from a patient who was hurt in a car accident. The patient must consent to a blood sample or be placed under arrest. Otherwise, she said police needed a warrant. Payne told the nurse she was under arrest and physically moved her out of the hospital as she screamed. The Salt Lake Tribune reported Wubbels was not charged. (For more information on Wubbels' arrest and other Salt Lake City stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Payne was suspended from blood-draw duties, but remains a detective in the investigations unit.

The assistant chief apologized to the hospital, Judd said, and the department was alarmed by what they saw in the video. The department is investigating what went wrong and hopes to repair the "unfortunate rift" caused by the incident.

Statement & comments by @ChiefMikeBrown & @slcmayor about UofU #nurse incident at 11:45 @ mayor's office. https://t.co/EfK1D9nvOX
— SLC Police Dept. (@slcpd) September 1, 2017

Mayor Jackie Biskupski said in a statement that she watched the video for the first time Thursday night.

"What I saw is completely unacceptable to the values of my Administration and of the values of the Salt Lake City Police Department. I extend a personal apology to Ms. Wubbles for what she has been through for simply doing her job."

The Civilian Review Board is also investigating, Biskupski said. She instructed police Chief Mike Brown to thoroughly review all policies and trainings to ensure "respect for all individuals, in all situations," and that the police department leaders met with hospital administration.

"We immediately changed policies that may have been a factor in this encounter, and the officer’s duties have been modified."

Chief Mike Brown said in the statement that he too was "alarmed" by the video.

"I am sad at the rift this has caused between law-enforcement and the nurses we work so closely with. I want to be clear, we take this very seriously," he said.

Brown said police replaced their blood draw policy with a new policy. All remaining officers on the blood draw program have reviewed, and are operating under the new policy and protocol.

Video credit: Salt Lake City Tribune

Photo credit: Screenshot of Salt Lake Tribune video