LOS ANGELES, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- Video of Utah policeman's rough arrest of a nurse who refused blood draw from an unconscious patient has gained national attention across the United States, sparking outrage on social media.
The University of Utah Hospital's nurse Alex Wubbels held a news conference Thursday and released police body-camera video which was forwarded quickly on Twitter, Facebook and Youtube among other social media.
Wubbels was arrested by Salt Lake police detective Jeff Payne for a dispute over blood draw from an unconscious patient in a July 26 incident. She refused to draw blood that Payne needed for an investigation because she said the police officer did not have a warrant or meet any of the mandatory criteria needed for taking blood, according to Utah local media, the Deseret News.
The video shows Wubbels screamed as she was dragged out from the hospital in handcuffs by Payne.
"Stop, I have done nothing wrong. This is crazy," she is heard on video.
Salt Lake City's mayor and police chief apologized for the incident on Friday.
"Like many of you, I watched the video of police officers interacting with University of Utah Medical Center nurse Alex Wubbles for the first time through the media late yesterday. What I saw is completely unacceptable to the values of my administration and to the values of the Salt Lake City Police Department," said Mayor Jackie Biskupski in a statement.
Police Chief Mike Brown said he took the incident very seriously.
"Immediate steps were taken and within 12 hours, body cam footage was reviewed and an internal affairs investigation started," said Brown in the joint statement with the mayor.
Brown said, "we apologized for the incident and promised to find a solution," and to "learn from mistakes."
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill also announced that he wanted a criminal investigation into the incident.
The University of Utah Hospital expressed its support for Wubbels.
"During a stressful situation, Nurse Wubbels chose to focus first and foremost on the care and well-being of her patient. She followed hospital procedures and protocols in this matter and was acting in her patient's best interest," said the hospital in a statement on its official website.
"Both nursing and hospital administration extend our full support to Nurse Wubbels and express our appreciation for her commitment to put a patient's interests ahead of her own," said the statement.
U.S. National Nurses United slammed the action of the police officer as a disgraceful and outrageous act of violence. The nation's largest union and professional association of registered nurses (RN) acknowledged that a blood sample can't be taken without patient consent or a warrant.
"As the videos and news accounts make clear, there is no excuse for this assault, or her arrest, which sends a chilling message about the safety of nurses and the rights of patients," said Jean Ross, co-president of National Nurses United, in a statement on its website.
The video has prompted angry on Twitter and other social media. The police officer was criticized by some social media users as "abuse police power", "broke the law and violated the constitution" and "should be fired."
"Unjustified arrest of University nurse Alex Wubbels while on duty. Abuse of power much?" wrote Twitter user J Harrison RN.
"Thank you Alex Wubbels RN for standing by our professional code of ethics," wrote another Twitter user Mara Weston.
Wubbels responds to apology from mayor and chief of police of the Salt Lake City. She said she had received calls from them.
"They both offered me personal apologies, which I felt were sincere. I have accepted those apologies," Wubbels was quoted as saying by Fox 13 News on Friday afternoon.
"The outpouring of support has been beyond what I could have imagined. Since the incident, the city has taken this matter seriously, and I believe that positive change will occur," she added.
