Cop Arrests Man For Taking Wife to ER

$5 says that the DA will drop the charges.

[redacted. Golden rule: If it felt good saying it, it was probably a bad thing to say...]
 
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This is why we have 911. Because EMS can go through red lights. The truth is it sucks to sit and wait but the extra ten minutes waiting at red lights really isn't going to make a difference in most patient's outcomes (and those that it would are so sick that they probably need interventions on the way to the hospital like bagging or CPR). Not sure that this person should be arrested, but can you imagine what would happen if everyone thought that they could run red lights because they had an "emergency?" Yes, in this case it was a real emergency, but think about the average patient who goes to the ED.
 
I agree with you zmedic. If I were him I probably wouldn't have called 911 and taken her to the hospital myself as he did, but I definitely wouldn't be running red lights. Way too dangerous.
 
Nope, I don't think there are two sides here. Hospital administrators said that an ambulance would have tacked on 20-30 minutes to her transport, which likely indicates a rural area. For a possible stroke you wouldn't even think about waiting that long. Even if the allegations they make about the officers conduct and language are false, he still did the right thing taking her to the hospital.

Lets be honest here, the only difference between an ambulance and a normal car at the red light is that the ambulance can go if the other cars are stopped, whereas the husband here states that he waited for clear intersections before proceeding. What is dangerous for ambulances is crossing into intersections when people don't see them. An ambulance is no safer than any other car if the intersection is clear.

If the statements made about the officers conduct are true he should be fired and the charges should be dropped. Police need to think long and hard about their purpose here. Nowhere in the phrase "serve and protect" would it indicate blocking the way of a sick patient to the hospital.
 
I HATE it when the news media comes up with headlines like that.

The man was arrested for running a red light, not for taking her to the hospital. Had he taken her to the hospital without running the red lights he would have been fine.

In short, an emergency does not generally give you the right to break the law. He may have done the right thing by driving her himself, but he also willingly broke the law and thus should suffer the consequences for it.

And not to side with the cops, but hospital staff are just as bad as cops are when it comes to protecting/helping one of their own. The officer did not know the man had spoken with hospital staff, so from his perspective it probably looked like the guy was barging in without permission. It seems reasonable that they asked the cop to leave the room, but if the pt is that sick generally they don't let the family in either (at least where I work).


Oh, and if every cop that called someone a ":censored::censored::censored::censored: head" was fired there wouldn't be a lot of cops around. Aside from being a jerk, the cop didn't do anything that extreme. He could have tazed the guy the instant he opened his driver's door (he was eluding), and then just left the wife sitting there. I wonder if the husband had slowed down for a few minutes after putting his wife in the room and just talked to the cop if things would have turned out better.
 
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"Wright is charged with assaulting a police officer, disorderly conduct, reckless endangerment, evading arrest, two red light violations and registration violation"

They aren't just charging him with running the red light. The officer is throwing the book at him, simply out of spite for challenging him, it appears.
 
My wife or my kids, I would have done the same thing. You can have my cert and I'll drop from medic school, but my loved one is in the hospital and getting treated.

just my $0.02
 
LucidResq said:
I definitely wouldn't be running red lights. Way too dangerous.
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Going to have to say with ones wife, the dangerline is often way off in the distance.

If he had lights on his car is there a possibility he can use them to push through traffic, I note no dangerous driving charges. One ponders if there is law with interfering with an emergency worker. I would't be surprised if the cop was pushed out of the way at the door, I'd have to say most people would do the same and after the wife/SO is handed over then deal with the cop.

Either there is more to the story or the cop was out of line in the way he dealt with it.
 
Aidey said:
Oh, and if every cop that called someone a ":censored::censored::censored::censored: head" was fired there wouldn't be a lot of cops around. Aside from being a jerk, the cop didn't do anything that extreme. He could have tazed the guy the instant he opened his driver's door (he was eluding), and then just left the wife sitting there. I wonder if the husband had slowed down for a few minutes after putting his wife in the room and just talked to the cop if things would have turned out better.
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I personally don't have a problem with that. Go around calling people you meet as a paramedic "****heads" and see how long you keep your job. How much longer until he pulls some sort of BS like Shandy Cobane from Seattle?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkrHk99jkbc
Warning, harsh language.
 
Aidey said:
He could have tazed the guy the instant he opened his driver's door (he was eluding),
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To use such force when there is no threat of violence or history of violence from the "offender" for "eluding" seems excessive to say the least.

The whole situation seems like all parties wanted to get into a pissing contest.

I am not a judge but if I was, I would fine the guy for running the red lights, he'd get the points on his license. Traveling through an intersection even in an ambulance is dangerous. It is a risk that is not justifiable by medical science when looking at patient conditions and outcomes.

Now I don't think the cop needed to come up with some trumped up charges, but let's face it. They often do in the "contempt of cop" mentality and thats for lawyers and judges to sort out.

It was onced passed on to me that arguing with a cop is pointless. It is best to argue what was done to the judge.
 
Whether I agree or not with his actions he broke the law, plain and simple. The sickness of his loved one doesnt give him the right to risk the lives of everyone on the road. He made his decision and now needs to deal with the consequences.

If I had made that decision myself I would expect and suffer the consequeces. The pissing match at the ER door will be tossed and he will probably plead out to a lesser moving violation.
 
Here's the most recent update on the story.

The police officer is under investigation and...

"I am perfectly willing to pay the tickets for running the red lights, it's a fair price to pay for getting my wife to the hospital in a timely fashion," Mr. Wright said.
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And this from the police dept....

In light of what happened and the internal affairs investigation we asked Lt. Noorbergen what people should do while in a panic rushing a loved one to the hospital. While each situation may be different, Lt. Noorbergen said one call to 911 can prevent a lot of trouble.

"We would ask you to pick up your cell phone on the way, let us know your coming down a street, you're in this type of vehicle and we will help you," Lt. Noorbergen said.
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What burns me the most is the police officer getting in the way of the guy carrying his wife into the ER and threatening arrest. Isn't it clear enough that there is a medical emergency if someone pulls in front of an ER with their hazard lights flashing? And if they proceed to lift someone from the car and walk to the ER entrance, isn't that enough of a reason to possibly wait until the sick person is being tended to before arresting the driver?
 
bstone said:
What burns me the most is the police officer getting in the way of the guy carrying his wife into the ER and threatening arrest. Isn't it clear enough that there is a medical emergency if someone pulls in front of an ER with their hazard lights flashing? And if they proceed to lift someone from the car and walk to the ER entrance, isn't that enough of a reason to possibly wait until the sick person is being tended to before arresting the driver?
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yes, it should be obvious.

People should call 911 and nform them of whats going on. Police have been known to stop intersections. Etc.
 
firecoins said:
yes, it should be obvious.

People should call 911 and nform them of whats going on. Police have been known to stop intersections. Etc.
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It appears he called the hospital (but not 911):
Wright said after carrying his wife to their car, he called the medical center to report that they were on the way
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Additionally, it appears this fellow might be a fellow EMT:
Wright -- a trained emergency medic
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He should have called 911, yes. Then the officer may have escorted him to the hospital instead of chasing him. Can we fault him for not calling 911? No, it was an emergency. Moreover, he called the ER and they were waiting for them.
 
Veneficus said:
To use such force when there is no threat of violence or history of violence from the "offender" for "eluding" seems excessive to say the least.

The whole situation seems like all parties wanted to get into a pissing contest.

I am not a judge but if I was, I would fine the guy for running the red lights, he'd get the points on his license. Traveling through an intersection even in an ambulance is dangerous. It is a risk that is not justifiable by medical science when looking at patient conditions and outcomes.

Now I don't think the cop needed to come up with some trumped up charges, but let's face it. They often do in the "contempt of cop" mentality and thats for lawyers and judges to sort out.


I know in my area we have intercepted private vehicles coming from rural areas after the driver called 911, and that may have been an option to the couple here. There was also a story floating around a while back about a guy who was driving his pregnant wife to the hospital when he got pulled over for speeding. The cop escorted them the rest of the way, and then wrote the husband a ticket.

It was onced passed on to me that arguing with a cop is pointless. It is best to argue what was done to the judge.
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That was kind of my point Vene, that calling what the cop did extreme or excessive is a tad much where there were a number of more excessive options available to the cop.

That is also what I bet will happen. The guy will plead guilty to the traffic violations, plead down the eluding, and the other stuff will be dismissed.
 
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Ok the "guy" was a medic, as stated above. The cop charged him with 7 felony's.....
An ambulance would have taken an additional 30 minutes, he said. His wife was having a stoke in front of him. It was his wife and his emergency.... He got there with out hurting himself or anyone else, and the DA agreed he did the right thing, AND the police officer appears to be being punished. I am not sure about you guys but I would not have waited for 30 minutes more of ischemia, cuting off my wife's blood supply to her brain.


Medic Eric Wright speaks of his ordeal after being arrested for rushing his sick wife to a Tenn. hospital last week. All charges have now been dropped and the police officer is on paid leave.

update on this story can be found here

http://www.ems1.com/ems-news/841849-charges-dropped-against-tenn-off-duty-medic-arrested-after-rushing-wife-to-hospital/
 
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And I thought our coppers were slow.

I remember my father saying that he was doing the same once for a seriously unwell friend. He got pulled over by a copper who after having the reason for the speeding and red light running explained to him, gave my dad a L/S escort to the ED. :lol:

While I wouldn't advocate that, I think this copper showed a profound lack of common sense and is guilty of having his ego offended at some point leading to the excessive charges.

On the other hand, I think there were better options for the man than driving her himself, but I think we could forgive him for no having the clearest mind given the situation. I think he could have at least called 911 to let them know. I seem to remember that happening here from time to time, sometimes for intercepts, and it doesn't seem to cause too many troubles.
 
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