Oklahoma Highway Patrol fight with EMT (Video)

[democracy1st]

Trooper, Paramedic Fight Caught on Tape
Posted: May 26, 2009 9:18 PM CDT
Updated: May 27, 2009 9:39 PM CDT
FEATURED VIDEO
First Responders, Trooper Clash Caught on Tape
OHP Trooper Scuffles with Paramedic


A trooper scolds the driving paramedic for not yielding to their vehicle.



The paramedic argues they were trying to avoid hitting a car and wasn't aware of the troopers' oncoming vehicles.



An OHP Trooper tries to restrain the paramedic. OHP claims the paramedics assaulted the troopers, but it was not caught on tape.By Dave Jordan, NEWS 9

PADEN, Oklahoma -- An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper and a paramedic were caught on tape scuffling Sunday while a patient was being taken to the hospital.


The fight happened on Highway 62, near Paden, after a OHP and first responders argued over a close call on the road.

OHP alleges that one of the paramedics on the video assaulted the trooper, but the assault was not caught on tape.

"We're like trying to tell the guy, 'Dude, my mom is in the back,' and my stepdad was like, 'My wife is in the back. Can we do this at the hospital?'" said Kenyada Davis.

Kenyada Davis' mother was the woman in the back of the ambulance being treated for heat exhaustion.

He was able to shoot the altercation with his cell phone's camera.

Davis said it all started because the ambulance failed to yield to OHP troopers, who were en route to a call along highway 62 in Paden.

Davis said the driver of the ambulance was trying to avoid hitting a car that slowed down and wasn't aware of troopers nearby until it was too late.

"He slowed down, and as the car was getting over, that's when he passed us," Davis said. "I didn't hear him."

But after OHP troopers finished their official business, they pulled the Creek Nation ambulance over. One of the troopers chided Paul for failing to yield.

Once the ambulance was pulled over, Davis pulled out his phone and shot video of the scene.

Watch the full video of the altercation between the trooper and first responders.

http://www.news9.com/Global/category.asp?C=116601&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3801638

youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KluItc365hU

According to the OHP, the paramedics assaulted the trooper just before the fight broke out.

"It didn't look like it was being handled very well, at least form the tape I saw from the troopers' standpoint," said NEWS 9 Legal Analyst Irven Box.

The entire scene, including the alleged assault was captured on dash cam video and has not been released.

The Okfuskee County District Attorney's office is reviewing all of the footage and could file criminal charges against the paramedic by the end of the week.


http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0509/626636.html



EMT In Confrontation With Trooper Speaks Out


Okmulgee - An Emergency Medical Technician who was involved in a scuffle with an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper is speaking out about the incident.

Maurice White, Jr. is a critical care paramedic with the Creek Nation EMS. He was nearly arrested after the confrontation, which was captured by the cell phone of Kenyada Davis.

Paul Franks was the driver of the ambulance, which was transporting a patient to a hospital in Prague.

White says he saw the trooper approaching from behind at a high rate of speed with lights activated, but he did not hear a siren. He says Franks had a car in front of him that his attention was focused on and hadn't seen the trooper before he was within a few feet of the ambulance.


"I called out to my partner and told him to pull to the side because there was a State Trooper behind us," White says.

White says as the trooper passed them, he made radio contact, telling Franks "you should consider checking your rearview mirrors".

White says a few blocks after this incident, another trooper entered the road at a high rate of speed, cutting in front of a car driven by a family member of the patient. White says he then saw another trooper approaching from the rear.

"As my partner was pulling onto the shoulder, the cruiser came alongside our unit and gestured for my driver to pull over," White says. "When the officer came to a complete stop behind the ambulance, I noticed a woman in the front seat. Based on the officer's erratic driving behavior, I thought that the woman in the front seat of the cruiser was in need of immediate medical attention; hence I exited the rear of the ambulance in order to assess the situation."

White says the officer was in a rage when he approached them and yelled "get your a-- back here! I am giving you a ticket for failure to yield." White says he told the trooper they had a patient in the ambulance and that they were on their way to the hospital.

"He ignored my statement, became even more belligerent, and demanded my partner come to his patrol car so he could write him a ticket," White says. "I calmly told the officer that we were transporting a patient and we could continue this at the hospital."

White says the trooper then approached him and shouted "you are under arrest for obstructing a police officer" and grabbed his arm to handcuff him. A brief struggle followed, at which point the trooper grabbed White by the throat. The cell phone captured this incident on video.

White says the trooper later told him they could continue on to the hospital, but that he would be under arrest once they got there. White was never arrested, but says troopers told him he should be prepared to turn himself in if a warrant was issued

http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0509/626636.html

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. wow! Thank goodness for cell phone cameras!

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. Name of crazy trooper: Daniel Martin

http://www.news9.com/Global/category.asp?C=116601&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=3801638

[strategery blunder]

3. OMG what a clusterfuck.

:(

Not aware of any statutes that specify when one emergency vehicle operating in its emergency capacity has to yield to another emergency vehicle operating in an emergency capacity--all the statutes I've read (not Oklahoma's) just say that drivers have to yield to emergency vehicles in such situations. They don't specify when one emergency vehicle must yield to another, when both have sirens activated. At least, not the ones I've read.

This will make for an interesting jury deliberation if charges are filed. I would think the ambulance would receive priority as I'd vote that the life interest of the person in the back (and EMS' need to transport such patient to the hospital in a timely manner) supercedes the trooper's arrogance.

Looks like it may very well be a legal black hole. However I am not an attorney.

[barbtries]

10. i didn't gather from the story

that the ambulance was using its lights and siren. apparently the patient was suffering from heat exhaustion?

[strategery blunder]

25. If the ambulance was not using any emergency signaling,

then the cop had no way of knowing that the ambulance was being operated in an emergency capacity until after he pulled them over. And if I was a cop, my reaction would be "Why the fuck aren't you using your siren then?"

I had assumed that an EMT operating an ambulance transporting a patient to hospital would actually use the ambulance's siren, but if the EMT neglected to do so, that just makes it even more complicated.

[Robb]

33. I was a volunteer ambulance driver several years ago

Transporting a patient to the hospital on a freeway, we are instructed to maintain our speed at or under the limit with lights and sirens off for 90% of the calls we were on. "Running code" is what it's called when lights and sirens are operating on an ambulance, and that is reserved for the very few situations where we could not stabilize the patient and s/he was likely to die unless at the hospital immediately.

The job of the EMTs and Paramedics is to stabilize the patient and get them safely to the hospital. Lights and sirens on the highway, as well as speeding, statistically actually kill more patients than they help.

[strategery blunder]

35. Hmm...then it would seem that the cop, asshole that he may be,

is technically in the right then. :(

[armyowalgreens]

4. If I read this correctly, the reason why this got out of control is because of the cop?

What an asshole.

[Chulanowa]

5. Just a gang that gets your tax dollars

Why is it only the good cops who catch the bullets?

[HughBeaumont]

20. Because the good cops know the meaning of the words "protect and serve".

Douchebags like the one above are in it for the legal asskicking they get to do.

[gaspee]

6. must be another one of those bad apples

Cops are good - isn't that what we're told?

[PuraVidaDreamin]

7. They stopped an ambulance en-route to a hospital w/ patient inside????????

That idiot cop is going down.

[madokie]

8. We can only hope

[AspenRose]

13. I doubt it.

[barbtries]

9. sounds like road rage to me.

on the part of the highway patrol. what a relief to know they're out there taking care of us :sarcasm:

[Ignis]

24. Someone didn't get enough respect for his authoritaaaah!

Unfortunately for him, he's not the king of the world, and other peoples' needs might be just a teensy bit more important than his ego. For example, the person being rushed to the hospital.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

11. Question about jurisdiction

if this was an ambulance of the Creek Nation, did this whole thing take place on Creek land? If so, does this make a difference in how this is handled?

I can't believe the cops delayed getting a patient to the hospital just because of bruised egos.

[konnichi wa]

18. There's no such thing as "indian land" (reservations) in Oklahoma.

The Creek Nation exists only on paper. (The Chief lives couple blocks from here) ;-)

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

22. Thanks for the information

I do not know any Creeks, but have friends who are Choctaw, and they refer to the area around Hugo as "the rez"--must be a joke. But another question--if they are a nation only "on paper", how come I see license plates for the Cherokee Nation? Are they special? Haven't seen plates for the other nations.

[RoyGBiv]

27. The Five Tribes ...

... are special.

The status of the tribes is established by treaties they "negotiated" with the federal government after the Civil War. These tribes are legally different than other native tribes in the U.S. Summarizing it is difficult because it gets into the nature of what sovereignty means. (Of course, Bush thought he had a handle on it in a now infamous clip.)

Anyway, they have their own governments and even own their own land, but it's not "reservation" land. It's either leftover allotments from the post-Civil War treaties or land they purchased. The Chickasaws, for example, are in the process of all but taking over Pontotoc County, which may be the only thing keeping the economy there from completely evaporating.

In short, it's an odd relationship between federal, state, and tribal government.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

29. thanks for the information

I was wondering about that.

[konnichi wa]

31. I think DUer RoyGBiv explained it pretty well, a bit more info-

the "five tribes" in OK (historically referred to as the 5 Civilized Tribes, but I believe the adjective has been dropped) are Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Choctaw and Seminole. License plates from the Cherokee nation
are common around here and I -believe- are unique; at least I can't remember ever seeing any from the others anywhere in the state. The Cherokees have a little different kind of history heavily influenced by Sequoyah who developed a written alphabet & language back in the 19th century...they have been very "organized" and are one of the few tribes that continue to operate a recognized Nation. As RoygBiv said it's complicated because of their semi-sovereign status. They even have their own law enforcement that essentially overlaps that of local governments. I'm not sure even my Cherokee friends fully understand it. :-)

[RoyGBiv]

37. Chickasaws have them ...

... the license plates, that is. I'm not sure about the others. (I lived in Ada most of my life, where the Chickasaw government is headquartered.)

And, you're right about the law enforcement. You could ask two cops the same question about it, and they've give you five answers. I just decided it was best to stay away from all of them if at all possible. :)

Something I just remembered about "the res" in the context of Oklahoma.

Back when I was a kid, I had a friend who lived "on the res." I never questioned it since I had no reason to do so. He lived in a house, and his neighbors, all Chickasaws, also lived in houses. I see no difference between this and where I lived. Years later I got curious as I started to understand that "the res" could often be a bad thing in that it was often a symbol of concentrated poverty and broken promises by the U.S. government. This, as you might guess, is one of the things that initiated my interest in history.

It turned out that "the res" where we lived was actually just a couple blocks of land that the Chickasaw government had purchased and developed for housing. Anyone could technically buy it, but if you were a tribal member, you got an enormous discount, as that was the intent of the project in the first place -- providing affordable housing that had the added benefit of generating income for the tribe as a whole.

The Chickasaw government and its hospital is now one of the largest employers in Ada.

[konnichi wa]

38. That's interesting. I never did spend much time down that way but I grew up in Tulsa

and had quite a few connections in Osage county, where the native Americans of that tribe have long been among the wealthiest people in Oklahoma (royalties from oil found on their land.)

The Chickasaws are very talented in their own right and buy a lot of TV commercials showing individual accomplishments and the public services that the tribe provides.

[underpants]

12. Sounds like someone needs to switch to sugarfree doughnuts

:o

[lies and propaganda]

14. so choking people is now procedure?

wow.

cant wait till my parents move from the fresh hell so I never have to enter its backward ass borders again.

[Ignis]

21. Only AFTER you taser them. You know, for safety. (nt)

[david13]

15. The ignorant pig makes a traffic stop on an ambulance

taking someone to the hospital for medical treatment? What pathetic sick insanity.
dc

[democracy1st]

16. stranger than fiction

[konnichi wa]

17. OHP troopers used to be skilled professionals. Nowadays they're just thugs.

Mediocre pay and lowered admitting standards have seen to it.


It's a goddamn shame.

[kiranon]

19. HWY Patrol officer needs to be relieved of his duties and after a hearing - fired!

[elvisbear]

23. Shocking!

Release the dash cam video please.

[Forkboy]

26. The first question that jumped into my mind when I saw this yesterday was...

..if the call the police were going to was so crucial that it could trigger such a response shouldn't that have taken precedence over this confrontation with an ambulance delivering a patient to the hospital? I would think it would be easy to take the plate number and later on contact the ambulance company, find out who the driver was, and then issue a ticket or whatever.

[tuckessee]

34. You're trying to use logic/common sense/brains.

These things do not apply when dealing with American police who are selected purposely for their low IQ's and slow, dimwitted simplistic thinking.

That's no joke. The selection process is geared to weed out thinkers.

edit- typo in title.

[TransitJohn]

28. I knew before opening this thread that

the paramedic was black.

[paparush]

30. White EMT gets a tongue lashing..Black EMT gets a chokin..

just sayin..

[Joanne98]

32. The police state moves forward

[pointblank]

36. As a paramedic of 8 years all I have to say is

Those fuckhead troopers better hope they aren't in an accident or shot.

Anger management indeed.