on May 24th 2009 police officer Daniel Martin of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol was responding to a call with lights and sirens on when he approached an ambulance driven by EMT Paul Franks also in the ambulance was a paramedic morrice White Jr who was attending to the patient the ambulance carrying an unconscious elderly patient did not immediately yield as its lights and Sirens were off to avoid stressing the patient after realizing his assistance wasn't needed at the call Trooper Martin pursued and pulled over the ambulance with the encounter captured on his dash [Music] cam now there now how you now what's wrong what's going on no I'm talking to the driver no no I'm talking to you I'm the you better get back in that ambulance I'm talking to the driver I'm in charge of the unit my name is Maurice White I'm a c care paramedic I'm going to give you a ticket for fair to yield and when I go by you saying what's going on you don't need to be give me no hand gestes now I ain't going to put up with that [ __ ] you understand me and I won't put up with you talking to my driver like that I ain't listening to you buddy you get your ass back in that ambulance where I'll take you in I'm talking to the driver if you would come over here Pati no we got a patient in this unit right now okay you want to go ahead and pull over to the side of the road when there's an emergency vehicle behind you you ran up on us quickly I did not run up on you quickly buddy you did you better get back in that ambulance before you get your butt to jail now you understand me we're going to get my P to the hospital you can take me to jail we'll discuss this okay Trooper Martin informed Mr Franks that he would issue a ticket for failure to yield Oklahoma law requires that Vehicles yield to authorized emergency vehicles using lights and Sirens however both ambulances and law enforcement vehicles are considered authorized emergency vehicles under state law although emergency vehicles may disregard certain traffic regulations when responding to calls the law does not explicitly state that one emergency vehicle must yield to another in this case Trooper Martin believed that Mr Franks should have yielded but the statute is unclear on this requirement between two authorized Vehicles come here PA no no I've got a patient in this hey turn this car turn around now turn around turn around my wife turn I've got a patience around I've got a patience you and you are fing me I'm not you are you turn around you are obstructing my P turn around now calm down turn around my wife is in this car y better back up is in this can arrest me follow me to Craig Hospital come to the come to the hospital follow follow me to Craig I'm you get on get on yeah you come on up to the police St over go ahead just take my wife to the hospital3 I'm over over here you got anybody available I need some help over here no you can't go right now get in take you're not running Cod the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals provided a detailed account in the 2011 case white V Martin according to the court Trooper Martin repeatedly tried to speak with Mr Franks and ordered Mr White to return to the ambulance or face arrest Mr Mr White insisted they needed to go to the hospital and refused stepping between the trooper and Mr Franks Trooper Martin then tried to arrest Mr White shoving him against the ambulance but Mr White resisted after a struggle where Trooper Martin accused Mr White of obstruction he called for backup a family member of the patient began recording the altercation on a cell phone capturing a clearer view of the incident from that pointway p p my mom's ambulance over because he's man we didn't pull over and he trying to arrest the the uh from taking my mother to the hospital get all right now let me get the car number here tag number [Music] I just got you some evidence that's all I got you some evidence that's all [Applause] I'm getting ammo [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] you calm down you calm down got it ain't right here to be all [Music] [Applause] right after another Trooper arrived Trooper Martin informed Mr White that he was under arrest Mr White responded by stating he wanted to press charges against Trooper Martin for assault Trooper Martin then attempted to twist Mr White's arm behind his back but a struggle ensued during the altercation Trooper Martin choked Mr White holding his hand on his throat for over 10 seconds even after Mr White stopped resisting the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in reviewing Mr White's lawsuit found that based on the grand V Connor factors severity of the crime immediate threat and resistance Trooper Martin's conduct could be deemed objectively unreasonable the court highlighted video evidence showing Mr White gasping for air while pointing to Trooper Martin's hands around his throat suggesting a jury could find that Mr White's Fourth Amendment rights were violated come here Paul sir I'm going to ask you to step back okay hey this my wife she need to be at the hospital she be this if he wouldn't have come out here started we could have been on the road about 5 minutes ago partner now step back I'm sorry to see com vehicle in front of me on all I'm trying to do is over here and talk to you about it all right I didn't need your manager whoever it is in the back in the paramedic whoever happens to be in charge to get out to start obstructing okay you understand he's going to jail yeah you don't jump out and talk to state trooper like that you understand me I don't care who you are you're not running code you're not running emergency okay all right I didn't just get up behind you interrogate you and turn on my red lights and siren I've been going hot over here to help the county out you understand I do anything but I thought man we're going to get you on to the hospital here just quickly okay hey you're going to jail you understand me you were under arrest okay you were arrest press charges on them for ass I told you to turn turn around [Music] Martin 66 of 82 after Trooper Martin stopped choking Mr White the Troopers and EMTs parted ways with the ambulance heading to the hospital Mr White was not arrested or charged following an internal investigation Trooper Martin was suspended for 5 days without pay and required to take an anger assessment with officials criticizing his failure to allow the ambulance to continue to the hospital on July 21st 2009 Mr White filed a civil rights lawsuit and Trooper Martin counters sued the court denied Martin qualified immunity and in 2011 the 11th circuit upheld this decision the case settled in 2012 also ironically Trooper passed away in 2018 after suffering a heart attack in the line of duty on September 22nd 2019 loveand police officers responded to a report of a motorcycle crash inside a bar in Colorado upon arriving officer Paul Ash noticed Mr Preston and his girlfriend who had helped the victim trapped beneath the motorcycle the officer then initiated a conversation with Preston where is the bike at the bike sparked down side yeah the blue one there we pulled it [Applause] off okay you might come and talk to me I don't know what happened he pulled the bike off I'm talking to nobody really these guys saw what happened I didn't if you're not talking to anybody you can leave well you can leave you're dismissed we can't leave you we can't leave I'm not leaving okay then come and talk to no I'm not going to come talk to you I'm not going to come talk to you police officer man just I know did you pull the bike did you pull the bike off come did you pull the bike off him I did not okay you just told me you did to do with me okay you're free to leave yeah you're free to leave what's his name uh Preston that's all I know Preston what I don't know Preston had the right to refuse to answer the officer's questions under the Fifth Amendment which protects against self-incrimination this means that individuals cannot be forced to provide information that could be used against them in a criminal case Cas in this context Preston was under no legal obligation to engage with the officer or provide any answers unless he was being detained under Reasonable Suspicion or arrested if an officer lacks Reasonable Suspicion or probable cause to believe someone is involved in a crime they cannot compel someone to answer questions and the person has the right to remain silent you got ID on your boss I I need an ID okay 1 I got uner witness come on over here I need to talk to you I need to talk I don't want to talk to you you have to talk I don't want to talk no I don't you do okay you've inerted yourself I came down here to help them I don't have to talk to this going to go one or two way I don't have to talk to anybody this is going to go one I don't have to talk to anybody okay either you're going to sit here and talk to me we'll just have a short conversation no or I going to arrest you for obstruction no you're not OB I'm not obstructing anything you're right here I'm not obstructing nothing these guys are taking care of it the officer's threat to arrest Preston for obstruction was an abuse of power because Colorado law defines obstruction as using Force threats or violence to prevent a law enforcement officer from performing their duties none of these circumstances were present in Preston's case as he had not acted violently or interfered with the officer's ability to perform his duties simply refusing to answer questions does not meet the legal definition of obstruction making the officer's threat unjustified just come talk to me no okay turn around I I don't want to talk to you turn around right now no no turn around videotape this Sher I'm already do right here turn around no you're wrong my constitutional rights I don't have to talk to you I don't have to I don't have to ID myself [ __ ] I came down here to help I don't know what happened and I'm telling him that I'm telling him that put your hand behind your back you want to talk to me put I'm not telling you again you're being a little dick put your hand behind your back now no you're being wrong hand being video take this Sher he's going to get you video take this [ __ ] what are you what are you what are you what are [Applause] you I have nothing to do with this this is you videotape this Sherry this is I'm not obstructing justice I didn't want to talk to you I didn't have to talk to you this is total [ __ ] I gave you plenty of opportunities no I didn't want to talk to you I didn't have to talk to you I'm going to sit you that's my constitutional rights I'm going to sit you up that's my constitutional rights this is that knee in this is BR this you sit down this is shoulders you're with me we're my car over here there's no reason for this there's no reason for this get my phone Sher this up videotape all you had to do with talk to me I didn't want to talk to you I didn't have to talk to you does matter I didn't have to talk to you I don't know what happened he came over we saw him down I came to help him get his up okay and that's what I need to talk to you that's right so if you've inserted me let me go you ear yourself you need to talk to me I I don't need to talk investigation I'm not instructing anything for OBU resist I want to I want to talk to you supervisor I want to talk to your super the police department right no I want to talk to him right now you can talk to him before you go to jail I'm not going to jail you I didn't do anything I helped the guy get his bike up that's why you and I'm obstructing let me go I'll get in you don't have to force me lock you don't have to force me in I'll get in I'll get in your thing loosen these cups up please they're tight can we please loosen these cups up checking them sir so the bike has been moved over there yes sir I had that I came out to help my friend okay and that's why you needed to sit there and talk to me now I didn't need to sit there and talk cuz I didn't see what happened I didn't W witness what happened well you obviously did because you came out and helped them I yeah but I didn't I don't know what the hell happened I came down and my bik my buddy's bikes down that's part of the investigation and we need to know all about that you're wrong okay have a seat please please loosen these they are super loose no they're not have a seat in the car no my right my left wrist is TR you want me to check them can I check yes sir please you're here yeah I need statements from the guy in the blue plat shirt okay the guy in the black uh Eagles thing okay he was the one who moved the bike over there or was moving it the Eagles jersey moved it over there y okay the officers along with their supervisor deliberated extensively about potential fabricated charges against Preston during which they frequently muted their body cameras however brief unmuted moments revealed important details for Preston's defense officer Ash initially confirmed that bystanders had helped move the motorcycle off the victim supporting Preston's account after muting the cameras again the officers ultimately decided to charge Preston with evidence tampering to justify their use of force Preston sustained severe injuries requiring a shoulder replacement all charges against him were later dismissed and Preston sued the officers and the City of Loveland leading to a $290,000 settlement despite this the officers faced no disciplinary action on October 9th 2020 retired firefighter Joseph garus was driving through Santa Paula California when he spotted shooting victim lying face up in a parking lot in a pool of blood realizing the situation garus pulled over exited his vehicle and began administer during CPR shortly after officers from the Santa Paula Police Department arrived on the scene and the encounter was recorded on their body cameras don't go to don't go to the car don't go to that car stay over here stay over here stay over here come over here that's your car that's my car I was driving by I saw I'm a retired okay I'm not a part of this we don't know anything about that we see a gun in the car you're not going here do you have your Ida it's in the car what's your name Joe garus Joe garus you got you got to relax okay we know you're helping us out wellit but you guys aren't listening either that's part of the problem so I said we appreciate your being involved okay we just run that's his knife I took it out of his pocket to cut his shirt off and that's your vehicle yeah I was driving north I saw the lady they were looking this way and I saw him down and I thought he was beer or something spun around and came in saw the blood she said they were calling 911 I screamed has he' been shot she said yeah was I was pulling in okay saw the gunshot wound to the side of his face um I did a quick check found the gun in his waistband rendered it useless stuck it inside my car grabbed his knife cut off his shirt and then you guys started showing up okay did you see did you see anybody running anybody leaving the area anything when you him someone relieves him get a m not a thing get this guy out of here sir wi what the relax relax okay appreciate it huh I got a crime scene sir I'm a detective yeah and I'm here helping him so step off okay if you're a good detective you wouldn't be yelling me right now you'd be taking care of your job you I can't get the get out of my crime get out of my crime scene what you going to do to me get out of my crime scene I'm going to make you next time get out of my crime scene come with me Mr garus Mr garus come with me Detective Chris Rivera ordered Mr garus to leave the crime scene and other officers led him outside officers have the authority to secure a crime scene and limit who can be there to protect evidence although Mr gares was a witness it would have been reasonable to interview him without removing him however officers are allowed to control who stays at a crime scene so the detective's decision to ask him to leave would likely be seen as Justified yeah you your get C that's how you act no wonder people will give you guys the benefit of the doubt and I work with you for 27 years when do I get my car back then hey tell them thank you for teaching me not to be helpful you fat you have to stay back step back step back step back step back step back I don't know who you're so now you're going to come over with me huh you're doing a really good job right now aren't you I need you to back you need to calm him I need you to back up here I got I got I got him come here you need really the pain comp that's what we need to do like his name after Mr garus yelled at detective Rivera from outside the parking lot Rivera approached him placing his hand on Gus's shoulder when garus pulled away and used profanity to tell Rivera not to touch him Rivera responded by forcefully grabbing gara's arm and restraining him for an officer's use of force to be constitutional it must be reasonable under the Fourth Amendment which protects citizens from unreasonable seizures the US Supreme Court has established that an officer's use of force should be evaluated based on the severity of the crime whether the suspect poses an immediate threat and whether the suspect is actively resisting arrest in this case Mr garus was involved in a verbal altercation and did not pose any immediate threat nor was he physically resisting arrest Rivera never told garus he was being arrested or asked him to comply with any commands before using Force take it down a notch you can take it down down a notch somebody here's not controlling themselves you take a deep breath don't be a hypocrite I've taken a deep breath it's your turn on yeah don't be a Hy you want to talk like adults I'll let you go you want to talk about ad you start talking to me like an adult do you understand how I need to do my job you see what you're doing wrong if you know how to do this job and you have a badge then you would understand now do you want to go for 148 if you have a badge do you have a badge are you retired do you want to go for 148 for being in the crime scene just because Sergeant don't know how to do their job and you were a cop say your sergeant doesn't know how to do his job take him turn him around where's your badge at in my Jeep like I keep saying but you w't listen where at in your Jeep you will see it when you look at you want your car do you want me to have to ride a search war and keep it or do you want to keep your car do you want to get home as soon as possible I'm not talking anymore okay s s in 64 what's your first name Joe Joe hey check that out I stopped to help somebody been shot I'm getting arrested um have a seat for a second just so you know I'm retired because of PTSD got it major anxiety problems got it being in handcuffs doesn't help me I know you guys got to do it keep away from me you got it he is accelerating this way more than I am I won't let him talk to you anymore you want the windows down or anything how come can we just sit right here with me the door open I ain't going anywhere dude you guys all know where I right here for now I mean I know what you guys do I mean I did it with you for 27 years in Ox are not Santa Paul right to have that happen that's as unprofessional as anything I did and a cop shouldn't lose a like that you both you and I both know that do me a favor just sit here for now no problem well they know that I already told the first couple guys here that there's a gun on the on the uh P or the floor of my of the driver dude this is going to freak me out come back quick I'll roll up I'll roll down the windows a little bit okay um and what was your last name sir garus gar r c okay and you're detained right now okay you're not under arrest all right man I told you cool officer Rivera detained Mr garus placing him in handcuffs in a police vehicle but this may have been an unlawful arrest since Mr gar has posed no threat or Flight Risk even if deemed A detention it's unclear if the officers had Reasonable Suspicion California law allows arrest for obstructing an officer but verbal criticism is protected under the First Amendment since Mr gares eventually complied with orders a court could find his actions were lawful and did not violate the obstruction statute Hey cap can we get some decontamination for a guy in the back of the car here he was doing CPR got blood on you I I got the fire captain comeing over to the I don't know I've been standing over here this the one that needs decontaminated cap he has blood on him yeah he's he's actually witnessing but he was doing CPR when we came up and we had to where's the blood on him do I don't know probably on his hands so I think afterwards said not worry about it to uh I don't know I'm I'm not I'm good officers held Mr gares in the patrol car for about 15 minutes before detective Rivera released him afterward Mr garus requested medical assistance and was treated for a dislocated shoulder and torn labam injuries requiring surgery no charges were filed against him the shooting victim Mr Salgado survived and a suspect was later charged with attempted murder on August 19th 2021 Mr gares filed a federal lawsuit against detective Rivera and the City of Santa Paula ing civil rights violations in March 2023 judge ruled that detective Rivera had qualified immunity shielding him from personal liability for excessive force but the lawsuit against the city and state claims remain ongoing on July 26th 2017 detective Jeff Payne of the Salt Lake Police Department attempted to obtain a blood sample from an unconscious patient at the University of Utah hospital after a crash nurse Alex wubbles informed him that she needed approval from hospital administrators before proceeding their interaction was captured on pay's body camera I'm being threatened with um to be arrested if I don't allow the offic M yes please so I'm going to arrest her we have excident circumstances for a blood draw on a patient that's upstairs she is refusing and my lieutenant says that if she Department are you Salt Lake City police Lake which I'm sure you'll get to meet my lieutenant soon and if I don't get to go get the blood I'm taking her to jail I'd rather not do that I'd rather not do it [Music] either I've been threatened to be placed under arrest by this officer here I'm trying to prohibit him from drawing does not have a warrant for if things still keep going the way they're going I'm arresting her can't protect you for interfering with a criminal investigation if he's conducting an investigation it's obstructing okay I'm just being told what to do by my entire hospital and I'm being told what to do by by my boss okay so and I'm going to do what my boss says there's no reason that this has gotten as elevated as it has if you want to arrest he said if this guy's going to arrest me he's not going to stop him yeah let's to go that's fine I'd love to get out of right here yeah let's not we're not doing one thing or another until house to gets here yeah yeah and I've got more of my guys coming up so offic he's agreeing with this officer he needs to have a warrant signed by a judge that says he can draw and there's also the laws that talk about exent circumstances and implied consent law which does apply okay I can have you talk to our privacy officer okay well but until he says yes we can okay she's going to jail why interfering with the criminal investigation her my Watch Commander detective pain threatened to arrest nurse Alex wubbles for interfering with a criminal investigation if she didn't allow the blood draw from the unconscious patient however Utah's statutes regarding interference with a peace officer and obstruction of justice do not apply to this situation since Payne wasn't attempting to arrest or detain anyone and wubbles was following Hospital policies it's unlikely she could be charged under any of these laws even if the blood draw was legally authorized a court would likely find that wubbles was not interfering but rather acting in accordance with her employment duties coming from our leadership okay and it's coming from M But I either go away with blood and vials or body and toe that's my only choices up P this young lady right here right now is not free to go about her business her watch command if she does not allow me to go get a blood draw from a guy up in the Burn Unit she's going to jail and I'm just trying to do what I've been told to do by the hospital where's the disconnect yes phone they don't want to abide by the implied consent law or exent circumstances they want it to be a search warrant so where's the lieuten he's coming in I've talked to him on the phone she's talked to him on the phone he was the first one to tell her that if I don't get the blood getting arrested I don't know why you have to be so awful and threatening I'm not here to imp I'm just stating what is and we can both say that sir I'm just I'm just a nurse trying to protect the patients and do what my hospital has obligated me to do believe it or not I'm trying to protect him too I have two officers now another officer to arrest they don't have is this patient under arrest nope he still says he's not under do you have an electronic warrant no no no to every single warrant hold on so I printed this off this is what I was told to print off I have this it says obtaining blood samples for police enforcement from patients suspected to be under the influence this is something that you guys agreed to with this Hospital the three things that allow us to do that are if you have an electronic warrant patient consent or patient under arrest and neither of those things the patient can't consent call me me he told me repeatedly that he doesn't have a warrant and the patient is not under arrest okay so I take it without those in place I'm not going to get blood am am I fair to smize that Alex you're not you're notes yeah okay I don't know I have no idea why he's blaming me me I'm just representing why are you blaming the messenger she's the one that nurse wubbles explained to detective pay that hospital policy required either patient consent or a warrant to conduct a blood draw detective pay citing Utah's implied consent law claimed he could obtain the blood without a warrant however Utah's implied consent law only applies if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe the individual was operating a vehicle Under the Influence which wasn't the case here therefore pay's Reliance on implied consent was founded and even if the law allowed such actions it would likely be unconstitutional without proper justification or a warrant yeah but sir you're making a huge mistake right now [Music] threatening no we're done we're done you're under arrest we're going we're done I have administ she can sit in my car while we're they coming this is unnecessary man you're right this is my department and this is completely unnecessary I'm leaving now with her okay anybody who wants to prevent that that's your option he will be taking them leavee sir you're hurting me then walk no I have no reason to walk what is going on hi sir hi would you like to speak to this young lady well I need to talk to you first and then I'll talk to her okay so arresting her she's called people they say no she will not take me up there she absolutely will not thank you I have our privacy officer on they're busy give him a second okay let me chat with her for a minute we're breaking the law if we're doing wrong call Tom Miller listen to me if we're doing wrong there are civil remedies what I'm telling you is we are not making a mistakes okay I've done this for 22 plus years I know what the law is when it comes to search and seizure what you have done because your bosses are telling you to has been to prevent this officer who was called out to do a job to do his job that's obstructing when Lieutenant James Tracy arrived he incorrectly claimed that nurse wubbles obstructed Justice by preventing detective pain from obtaining a blood sample without a warrant under the Fourth Amendment warrantless searches are only permissible in certain exceptions such as exigent circumstances which require a valid reason like probable cause that the individual was intoxicated the Supreme Court has ruled in cases like Missouri V mcne that blood draws are considered searches and require a warrant unless specific urgent conditions are met in this case there was no probable cause to believe the patient was intoxicated making the officer's demand for a blood draw without a warrant unjustified arresting wubbles for upholding her patient Fourth Amendment rights was a clear overreach of their Authority is this person do you know is this person a resue you that we're trying to get blood from I have no idea I don't even know who he is okay so you're why are you involved in this you don't have anything to do with it because I'm the charge nurse in the unit that he was admitted my job is to help understand where what we're supposed to do you're not you're not trying to understand you're trying to sell us J that's all you're doing cuz he's going to tell me what your policy is I understand what your policy is I'm trying to tell you what I need legally okay and your policy right now is uh contravening what I need legally the officers detained Miss wubbles in the police vehicle for about 20 minutes before releasing her without filing any charges later in 2017 Miss wubbles reached a $500,000 settlement with Salt Lake City and the University of Utah resolving the matter without the need to file a lawsuit