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Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: colecampbell666 on June 19, 2009, 10:09:08 pm

Title: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: colecampbell666 on June 19, 2009, 10:09:08 pm
http://www.ktul.com/news/stories/0509/626636.html

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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.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Blue Lion on June 19, 2009, 10:15:30 pm
This story has updated like a dozen times. This article is like 3 weeks old :wtf:
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: FUBAR-BDHR on June 19, 2009, 11:27:34 pm
http://news.aol.com/article/state-trooper-ambulance/527730?icid=main|main|dl1|link2|http%3A%2F%2Fnews.aol.com%2Farticle%2Fstate-trooper-ambulance%2F527730

I don't know how they got Prague out of Oklahoma.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: StarSlayer on June 19, 2009, 11:43:49 pm
Wonder if the trooper would have reacted like that if the ambulance wasn't Muscogee.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: MP-Ryan on June 19, 2009, 11:49:36 pm
Heh, I've been showing this to all my co-workers as an example of an enforcement officer who doesn't know **** about how to deal with people or legally do his job.

The guy deserves to be fired, not just suspended.  Totally unprofessional.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Liberator on June 21, 2009, 03:57:04 am
The trooper is a moron.

The only question I have is was the ambulance running with L&S on?  If so, and the patient in the rear had died, I would bring him up on Manslaughter charges at the very least, possibly 3rd degree murder.  He should have been clearing the way for the ambulance not flexing his rock hard embarassingly large male member at an inopportune time.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: redsniper on June 21, 2009, 11:47:07 am
Well actually this makes me think. If an ambulance carrying a dying patient and a police car going to stop some guy on a murderous rampage meet at an intersection, who gets the right of way?
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: karajorma on June 21, 2009, 12:06:48 pm
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What Martin didn't know then, his lawyer said Monday, was that there was a patient in the back of the ambulance.

He didn't ask.

And any police officer who would pull over an ambulance and NOT ask if they have someone on board needs to be fired. That alone is enough.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Blue Lion on June 21, 2009, 02:54:54 pm
Cops can pull over ambulances if they don't have their lights and sirens on. This ambulance wasn't running them.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Ghostavo on June 21, 2009, 03:43:53 pm
Well actually this makes me think. If an ambulance carrying a dying patient and a police car going to stop some guy on a murderous rampage meet at an intersection, who gets the right of way?

The ambulance I'd wager.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: karajorma on June 21, 2009, 04:52:59 pm
Cops can pull over ambulances if they don't have their lights and sirens on. This ambulance wasn't running them.

So?

Only an idiot wouldn't ask regardless even if the siren and lights weren't on.

If he actually pulled over an ambulance with the siren or lights on he should be fired instantly regardless of whether he asked or not as in that case he would have been putting someone's life at risk in order to issue a minor traffic citation which he could have done later that day.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Blue Lion on June 21, 2009, 04:57:17 pm
Cops can pull over ambulances if they don't have their lights and sirens on. This ambulance wasn't running them.

So?

Only an idiot wouldn't ask regardless of whether the siren and lights were on.

If he actually pulled over an ambulance with the siren or lights on he should be fired instantly regardless of whether he asked or not as in that case he would have been putting someone's life at risk in order to issue a minor traffic citation which he could have done later that day.

The lights weren't on and pulling them over was perfectly legal. What he did after was less so, but he's still allowed to pull over an ambulance if it's not running lights or sirens.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: karajorma on June 21, 2009, 05:07:03 pm
And exactly where did I say he couldn't pull over an ambulance with the lights off? :rolleyes:

His defence seems to be based on his ignorance of the fact that there was a patient on board. But that is wilful ignorance since the first thing he should have asked was whether there was someone on board because it's a ****ing ambulance!
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Blue Lion on June 21, 2009, 05:13:39 pm
First off, he was told someone was in the ambulance. So you're arguing a point that didn't happen and has no point because he couldn't have known that before he pulled them over and he was told after he pulled them over.

Secondly, does this mean the ambulance driver should be fired for not running lights and sirens and then not getting out of the way of a police officer? Doesn't that also put the patient at risk?

The cop was a total ass, but not because he pulled them over, even if there was a patient.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: karajorma on June 21, 2009, 05:25:45 pm
First off, he was told someone was in the ambulance. So you're arguing a point that didn't happen and has no point because he couldn't have known that before he pulled them over and he was told after he pulled them over.

Firstly it's his defence that he didn't know. He's the one saying that not me. I even quoted it above. So if he did ask he needs to be fired for lying  or sack his lawyer for make his defence based on something that should result in him being fired.

Secondly I've seen the footage from that traffic stop it's linked above and it's not the first thing he asks.

Quote
Secondly, does this mean the ambulance driver should be fired for not running lights and sirens and then not getting out of the way of a police officer? Doesn't that also put the patient at risk?

Of course not. I'm not going to waste my time explaining the circumstances under which an ambulance should turn on lights and sirens since you should know them anyway but the fact remains that they had someone on board in need of an ambulance.

Quote
The cop was a total ass, but not because he pulled them over, even if there was a patient.

Again, I've seen the footage of the supposed incident and he was an ass to pull him over. There's no way that should have resulted in pulling over anyone. Let alone an ambulance.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: StarSlayer on June 21, 2009, 05:34:27 pm
Well for one thing ambulances don't generally drive down the street with lights a flashing a sirens wailing unless they need to not conductive to keeping a trauma victim calm and stable, but if the EMT is coming out of the back of the bus the generally that indicates that there might be a patient.  Furthermore the dash cam in the police car really didn't indicate the cop was that inconvenienced by the EMT, if you've ever seen a trooper need to move through major highway traffic that was a relatively easy pass.  I still would be curious to see if the fact that the EMT was Creek played a role in the troopers behavior though. 
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Blue Lion on June 21, 2009, 07:00:01 pm
Firstly it's his defence that he didn't know. He's the one saying that not me. I even quoted it above. So if he did ask he needs to be fired for lying  or sack his lawyer for make his defence based on something that should result in him being fired.

I don't care what his defense is. As you pointed out, he DID know because he was told. I saw the phone footage and the dashboard cam that was released.

But he couldn't have known there was a patient in the ambulance before he pulled it over and if the patient was in such dire straits (they weren't) the ambulance drivers should have had their lights and sirens on so they wouldn't get pulled over.




Of course not. I'm not going to waste my time explaining the circumstances under which an ambulance should turn on lights and sirens since you should know them anyway but the fact remains that they had someone on board in need of an ambulance.

Again, I've seen the footage of the supposed incident and he was an ass to pull him over. There's no way that should have resulted in pulling over anyone. Let alone an ambulance.

I saw the footage too, days and days ago when it was released. But now I'm slightly confused. Should he be fired because he pulled someone over that didn't deserve it or because there was a patient in the ambulance?

For the record, I think he should be fired for assaulting the driver, not because he pulled them over.

The patient was not in any serious or grave risk.

To me, the best solution to this would have been to pull the guy over, say "just get out the way when we have lights on or put yours on so we know" and left.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: karajorma on June 22, 2009, 02:10:11 am
I don't care what his defense is. As you pointed out, he DID know because he was told.

I said nothing of the sort. I quite plainly said his defence is that he didn't know and that he doesn't ask. Nor can I see it mentioned at any point in the footage.

It is completely pointless to argue with someone who is willing to words in my mouth in order to make their point, whatever I'm going to say you'll simply invent something else instead. So I'm basically ignoring any further comment you have on the subject.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: jdjtcagle on June 22, 2009, 11:58:44 am
My Dad worked with EMT this before and knows him.  He said that the guy who pulled him over was showing off for a women passenger with him.

EDIT: Correction my dad used to be an EMT driver with that guy (Maurice) who got choked out now he's a firefighter.  Maurice sits in the back with the patient.
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: colecampbell666 on June 22, 2009, 01:00:29 pm
That was your dad?
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: jdjtcagle on June 22, 2009, 01:05:17 pm
No my Dad used to drive the ambulance with the big guy (Maurice) on the tape. He's buddies with him.  I'm not sure what they are called but the guy in the video stays in back with the patient.

Sorry for the lack of lingo but I'm not my dad. :p
Title: Re: Ambulance driver arrested for failing to yield.
Post by: Blue Lion on June 22, 2009, 04:42:42 pm
For those who haven't seen it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Z1K6PsQHRk

This is the dashcam of the incident. It takes almost no time at all to go all mental.