Oklahoma Cop Who Attacked Paramedic Will Not be Charged
The Oklahoma State Trooper who pulled over an ambulance with a patient inside and attacked the paramedics will not be prosecuted, despite Oklahoma Assistant District Attorney Maxey Reilly telling the media originally that "the interference with paramedics in the performance of their duties is against the law in Oklahoma."
Trooper David Martin is still on paid administrative leave. Trooper Bryan Iker is apparently not being reprimanded either. Iker was second on the scene while Trooper Martin attacked and wrestled with paramedic Maurice White Jr. Martin attempted to arrest White for not getting out of Martin's way on the highway, despite Martin and the other paramedic pleading that they had a patient in the ambulance they were taking to the hospital.
The AP adds this quote: "White's attorney, Richard O'Carroll, said Martin was out of control during the incident. He wants his client's name cleared and "significant" remedial action taken against the trooper.
"If this kind of thing could happen to another professional, imagine what would happen to a suspected criminal in a dark alley," he said."
Trooper Martin is a military veteran who recently returned from deployment in the Middle East, according to his lawyer, Gary James. So what is James saying? Veterans should be allowed to commit crimes? WTF?
I respect the hell out of our veterans, and our police. They both do an incredibly difficult job and are seldom appreciated. We depend on both to keep us safe. However, psycho attacks like this cannot be tolerated. Obviously Trooper Martin needs some type of therapy. This kind of behavior has no place in law enforcement, or society, period.
In my opinion Trooper Martin should be dismissed from the police force and be prosecuted. When the people who are supposed to protect us are the ones harming us, they must be held accountable. If anyone other than a police officer had committed this crime, they would be spending several years in prison. Even the Oklahoma Assistant District Attorney admitted what Martin did is a crime.
Read the full account and watch multiple video's of the incident in my earlier coverage here.
5 comments:
This incident wouldn't have happened to a "white" paramedic. The NAACP should get involved because this attack was obviously racially motivated. Why else would the "cop" have been in a rage from the beginning? It's 2009 and time for people to stop thinking they are better based on what "color" they were born.
Some people should not have a badge and gun. The power that go with it goes right to their head. I have personally run into crap like this with the Kane Co., Il. sheriffs police. The police engage in 'test-a-lying' to cover themselves. Martin was in a rage, was insulting, threatening and just an all around a**hole which only escalated the situation. He obviously had a chip on his shoulder. After watching this clip several times, I firmly believe Martin does not posess the intelligence to handle the job properly.
dwt
First off, there is no issue of race, other than the fact both officer and paramedic are members of racial groups. People with race rage see race rage. Trained observers do not.
Second, it is a good idea to actually view the entire video from the patrol car before commenting. The paramedic, who was not running code, failed to yield despite clearly having the ability to yield and the capability to yield (the car in front of it did indeed yield, as did the one behind it).
The officer responded to the incident, cleared, then went back to pull over the dangerous paramedic, who needed to have some training. The driver at that point is the person being questioned, but Mr. White comes from in back (abandoning his patient, which is a no no if she is more than just a transport patient) and proceeds to interfere with a law officer in the process of his duty. I should note Mr. White has a radio, and could call a code if his patient was in danger, which would clear the officer, but he did not even bother with her. Mr. White was a showboat who thought road rules did not apply to him, and that his supervisor status was a special license to throw his weight around.
Third, the officer needs serious counseling. It is simply inexcusable that he allowed that incident to escalate. He should have put Mr. White in cuffs and called for a second transport ambulance as soon as Mr. White did not comply. He should have not cussed and screamed. He should have gotten on the radio for backup. The list of his failures are long. That they are caused by PTSD is besides the point, he needs help.
Speaking of help, why do the paramedics get off with being half trained and unprofessional. Learning their craft would have assured the event never happened.
Thank you for the comments. I disagree with some of what you said. If you watch the video from the dashboard, it's clear that a car in front of the ambulance pulls over and the ambulance has to move out of the way to avoid hitting that car, then the ambulance pulls over. I suspect what happened was the car heard the police siren, looked in the rear view mirror and saw an ambulance and pulled over. Perhaps the ambulance should have been faster to pull over, however, it's not like it's a normal driver out on a lunch break, it's an ambulance transporting a patient to the hospital.
Second, even if the ambulance was slow to pull over, at what point was Trooper Martin behaving correctly in choking Mr. White? Martin threatened to lock the paramedics up over petty stuff, and then went off into a rage. If anyone wants to argue that the paramedics need a refresh in training, Trooper Martin needs to be refreshed in following the law. He committed a crime. Police officers who are criminals should be fired and prosecuted. Period. I don't care if both sides were at fault, the police officer did not do the right thing.
YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am a retired Florida Paramedic, and what the State Troopers did was TOTALLY WRONG! This medic was enroute with a patient, whom was his responsibility! If I were the EMT driving, I would NOT HAVE STOPPED, and kept driving to the hospital! HERE, THE MEDIC WAS TOTALLY RIGHT! My husband is an ex police officer, ... "We" EMS and Police have ALWAYS worked together! What the HE - -!!!!!!!!!!! This "Patrolman," should be FIRED! DLM, EMT-P, Florida, retired
Post a Comment