The nurse who was roughly arrested at a Salt Lake City hospital has settled with the city and the university that owns the hospital for $500,000.
Police body camera footage from the July incident showed an officer roughly arresting Alex Wubbels after she refused to allow him to draw blood from an unconscious patient.
Then the officer lunges at Wubbels, forces her outside and handcuffs her as she screams that she has done nothing wrong.
The footage drew widespread outrage when it was released by the nurse and her attorney. It became part of a broader conversation about police use of force.
"We all deserve to know the truth and the truth comes when you see the actual raw footage and that's what happened in my case," Wubbels told reporters on Tuesday. "No matter how truthful I was in telling my story, it was nothing compared to what people saw and the visceral reaction people experienced when watching the footage of the experience that I went through."
The settlement deal covers all possible defendants from lawsuits, The Associated Press reports, including individual police officers and hospital security guards.
Salt Lake City and the University of Utah will split the cost of the settlement.
Wubbels says she will use a portion of the money to help people get access to police body camera footage of incidents involving themselves, The Salt Lake Tribune reports. Her attorney's firm will provide free legal services for those seeking access to video. Wubbels says she also plans to donate to the Utah Nurses Association and help lead the #EndNurseAbuse campaign.
Last month, the Salt Lake Police Department fired the arresting officer, Detective Jeff Payne, and demoted his watch commander, Lt. James Tracey, to the rank of officer. The Tribune reports that both men have appealed the punishment, and that a criminal investigation into Wubbels' arrest is ongoing.
Wubbels told the AP that she would be disappointed if the disciplinary measures are overturned, though she says it's not in her control.
"The police have to police themselves," she said. "This is something I never would have expected to happen, but I'm also honored by the weight of it."
Alex was following the policy and the LAW! Shouldn’t law enforcement be setting an example for the public and not resorting to violence? How are the people supposed to respect our law enforcement when our law enforcement is acting line a bunch of animals?!
I once had to intervene in the ER I worked at to stop 4 police from unintentionally killing a guy. He was definitely fighting with them and a jerk but they had him pinned prone face down on the floor, and one was kneeling on his back so hard, the perps face started to turn bad colors. I could tell he couldnt breathe I asked the officer to let up on the knee to the back and he gave me a dirty look. I responded, “Yeah he’s an asshole but I can’t let you kill him here”. He let up. Its no fun to be a cop you deal with really bad people on a regular basis. But they need help to learn better how to destress from this and not take their frustrations out on the public as happens sometimes.
It has to start somewhere. She deserved much more. Not that money is the cure all, cause it is not. It is the stimulus for most crime. Not money itself but the weight that money carries in this society is the impetus. So therefore it can also be the cure…fight fire with fire, so to speak. And that’s why I say she deserves more. But remember police, lawyers, judges, big business, and government are all in the same bed, doing the same things!
She was assaulted – Not arrested. Just because she said “No” to an unlawful demand that was being made. File charges!
As a nurse in a hospital, I see and hear abuse everyday. I’m glad that this was taken seriously b cause it also gives a bad name to the officers who actually fOllOw the rules and are good people. We should not punish all for one but discipline the ONE that breaks the rules.
Yes, about time those abusive police officers be disciplined. They think they are the law and that they can get away with taking advantage of their title. Justice, people. Justice.