Dashcam Vid: Trooper Chokes Paramedic

June 13th, 2009 (37) Posted By Pat Dollard.

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  • Vehement

    I’ve seen three videos on this. The first one I saw was on youtube.com. Of course all the liberals are going crazy there. But here’s the jist of what happens from the moment he pulls them over to when he lets them go.
    The cop has his lights on and is rushing to a report about a stolen vehicle. The ambulance is driving along, in no big hurry, no lights or anything. The cop has to his the breaks to avoid rear-ending the ambulance. Then the driver of the ambulance decides to pull over. Then, according to the cop the driver flips him off.
    The cop goes on, responds to the call then comes back to pull over the EMT who’s just driving along. Now mind you, there’s no way for this cop to know before pulling him over that there’s a patient. The cop is informed afterward and says basically that it’s obviously not and emergency otherwise the man would have been moving much faster and have his lights on. At this point the EMT in the back comes out and is told to go back in the ambulance. He doesn’t comply, he begins to argue. The cop orders him in and again he doesn’t comply. The officer tries to walk away with the driver to issue him a ticket and the other man interferes. Long story short, the cop attempts to make an arrest and the man resists and the cop makes the mistake of choking him to get him under control.
    Now had they just let this man issue the ticket they would have been on their way much sooner. The black EMT would have never been choked and the patient wouldnt have been needlessly stressed out as she was.
    More racebaiting bullshit.

    • Alex

      obviously his ‘chase’ wasn’t that important because he just spent 5 minutes in a pissing contest while a woman (whose condition is unknown to the officer) is waiting to continue to the hospital.
      Racially motivated probably not.
      But this cop is a prick. If a ticket or arrest was actually merited he would follow the EMT to the hospital (not jeopardizing someone’s life) and get him there

    • Vehement

      Have you watched the whole 8min video on FOX, buddy? Apparently not, otherwise you would know that he did reply to his call. Another officer was already on scene and he got back on the road, then pulled over the ambulance.
      As for jeopardizing the woman life:
      First of all; how was he supposed to know, that when he pulled the ambulance over, that there was anyone in the back? The ambulance was not speeding, it did not have on it’s light or sirens. But if you saw the full video you’d know that. Knowing that now, do you think it was really that big of an emergency?
      Second, if we’re going to complain about the cop jeopardizing the woman’s life then should we not look at the EMTs? One got himself pulled over for failure to yield. Wasting this precious time everyone is claiming. Then, the other EMT not only leaves this poor woman, in such apparently dire need of a hospital, in the back unattended but wastes more precious time arguing with the trooper and resisting arrest!
      And third of all, this woman after this supposedly horrific psychological encounter, in her allegedly fragile state, is treated and released!
      Once again, jumping to conclusions, judging the cop without all the evidence, and poor poor pitiful violaters!

    • Vehement

      Excuse me, this is the full video. Apparently people arent paying attention or are just wanting to blame this big bad police officer. :roll:

    • brendan

      Ok, ive read your argument and some of the posts from other people and I feel that as an EMT who is very familiar with the emergency world, some of you have some poor judgements of who is to blame. THE POLICE OFFICER IS IN THE WRONG FOR THIS EVENT! After watching the drive cam video, the ambulance did yield!! Yes it may have been delayed, however it would not be uncommon to not initally see the responding PD unit. Also, the PD unit was driving toooooo fast. Emergency Vehicle Operations Standards state that ALL emergency vehicles must obey posted speed limits and may only exceed with extreme caution in order to prevent loss of life or severe damage to property. A stolen vehicle call ASSISTING ON SCENE UNITS, does not qualify as a true “emergency”. Another point is that the PD would have been aware of an EMS event going on at the time involving a patient as ALL EMS dispatches are also accompanied by a PD notifcation for safety purposes. As for the EMT,s yes it was dumb for them to get out, especially the provider in the back leaving him open to neglegence suits, however…the trooper’s actions on scene were inapporpriate and uncalled for. HE IS TO BLAME!

    • Kuriozidee

      I have to agree with Brendan…sorry. You can tell who has been in and around the EMS field vs. those who have not. Just because you don’t have your lights and sirens on when running a call does not mean that the patient is not in distress. Have YOU ever driven a box unit before? It is not the same as slamming on the breaks in your car….particularly not when patient loaded. I was an EMS communications supervisor for several years and this is absolutely ridiculous. The minute that the cop realized that they were patient loaded, he should have sent them on their way and then followed them to the location if he still wanted to cite them- you don’t interrupt pt care over something like this. Ask yourself this question: If it were your mother in the back of that unit who, say, was in considerable pain from cancer but did not necessarily need emergent tx- would you want it to take twice as long to get there because of something like this? The Paramedic is the one in charge on the truck, therefore, he was doing what he thought was right by standing up for his EMT. Another point here is that usually, not always, but most of the time, if a Paramedic is in back with a pt, it is because they require that level of care which means that they are in need of medical treatment..and don’t make the mistake of thinking that I hold this opinion because I am black either ‘cuz that’s not the case. A stolen car report should not have been the priority here.

  • David

    Do what the PO says and this will be avoided. Get in a confrontation and this is what will happen. Simple.

    • Vehement

      “Simple.”

      You would think so, wouldn’t you? Unfortunately for some it doesn’t appear to be so simple to grasp.

    • FLINT89

      True, only a fucking idiot argues with a guy with a loaded gun.

  • Mike

    Vehement,
    Your reasoning sounds like it came straight from the DNC talking points regarding Obama’s policies on National Security, Healthcare,the economy. Just “comply” and then you can pull your pants back up after its over. The Trooper was wrong how he hanled everthing and by the way the Paramedic was wrong to get out of the ambulance. He should not have left the patient alone in the back, outside of that the Trooper owns this mess for losing his composure.

    • Vehement

      :lol: That’s rich! Yelling and dropping a couple curse words is hardly a crime. However, failure to yield, interfering with police and resisting arrest are.
      You act as if the man was sitting at home, watching football, minding his own business when police barged in without a warrant. A cop yelling at you and cursing hardly gives you the right to break the law.
      As far as I can tell you comment is reaking of the liberalism you’re accusing me of. Acting as if the EMTs only wrong doing was leaving his patient. And I suppose the driver isn’t wrong for not yielding either? So as most liberals do, you blame the big bad police man and stand up for the “victimized” criminal.
      Give me a break.

  • OK Joe

    Unfortunately for the patrolman the video doesn’t jibe with his version of the encounter. Regardless, poor judgment was shown on both sides.

  • Firebad

    What a cluster fuck. hope that cop has a real good first aid kit.

  • vincenzo4

    You now see what has devoured the entire country. Did you see anyone help the officer or try to calm the non-compliant asshole? NO. Then you had the other asshole using his cell phone to record the alleged excesses of a sworn law enforcement officer.

    That is a good traffic ticket, with the before, during and after of the violation recorded for all to see.

    Then you have this prima facie obstruction of justice by the paramedic WHO KNOWS BETTER and should have been arrested and charged.

    Everyone at the scene who was yp in that trooper’s face needs to be rolled up as well. This entire affair is a bumch of BS.

    The star player is the Troooper.

    Making this a racial issue is quite a typical attempt to deceptovely escape consequence and it works like a charm.

    OHP is a world class law enforcement agency. The Trooper did nothing wrong and showed great restraint. I would be interested in knowing why that ambulance was not in code 2 mode while treating a patient.

    • WestCoastGirl

      I agree. Everyone who interfered with the officer should get some type of citation. It seems to me the woman in the back was stable and they were not in a big hurry to get to the hospital. Of course, the family will file some type of BS lawsuit for trauma and mental distress. They had no business getting out of their vehicles and interfering with an on duty officer.

      The one thing I don’t get: it looks like the ambulance pulled over when they finally had a clear median. There was a vehicle in the way and they had to get around it, then pulled over. No?

      Everyone involved in this had piss poor attitudes from the driver, to the state trooper, to the “manager” in the back. The driver was actually trying to comply with the officer until his “boss” pulled his seniority card and the man didn’t seem to know who to comply with at that point.

    • Vehement

      “It seems to me the woman in the back was stable and they were not in a big hurry to get to the hospital.”

      Try getting that through the head of the yahoos and Youtube. I’m glad someone else agrees.

      “The one thing I don’t get: it looks like the ambulance pulled over when they finally had a clear median. There was a vehicle in the way and they had to get around it, then pulled over. No?”

      No, I don’t agree. With the siren whaling and lights flashing he should’ve notice the cop from far behind. You can see the ambulance of in the distance, there we no other cars on the road, he should’ve hear the cop, seen him in his side mirror and pulled over long before that car couldve been an issue. Then once he did finally pull over after passing the car, he took his sweet time. And my goodness, if the car infront of him had already pulled over with the ambulance blocking his view, the EMT should’ve known well before the car to move over.

  • 3-7 dad

    trooper is reportedly just back fm iraq…

    • TerryTate

      Well then he showed quite a bit of restraint, given that, by media accounts, he should be a rampaging, out of control, killer, with a hair trigger gun fetish.

      Personally speaking, I can’t see how he didn’t feel threatened when the crowd started gathering around him and trying to stop him from doing his job.

      It’s quite simple really.

      It’s all in the conversation he has with the driver once they are able to speak alone. The driver knows he fucked up, and the driver knows his boss fucked up, and at that point the situation is handled by two adults having a terse, but adult conversation. Handled and moved on, yet the other assholes had to go and create a whole set of drama that didn’t need to be added to a difficult situation.

      Complete and utter bullshit on the part of the EMT and the lady’s family. Once the cop tells them what is going on they should have simply said ok, and politely asked if it would take long, which clearly it would not have if the the EMT would have shut his yap.

  • Xavier

    It appears that the “listen & follow instructions” course has been discontinued from the education system for the last 20 years.

    • http://www.twitter.com/Archinfidel ArchInfidel

      It also seems the protect and serve course has been discontinued from the academy. :roll:

    • http://www.jihadwatch.org LCpl. Alexander

      Yea, you do realize when obama enforces his domestic policies it will be these troopers who come knocking on your door to make sure you obey and listen. The trooper had a case of the “do you know who i am”‘s. Fuck that guy. Paramedic’s aint shit i guess, even when they have a patient in the back. The trooper didnt give the driver, a fellow civil servant, the benefit of the doubt of “failing to yield to an emergency vehicle”, what the fuck is an ambulance by the way, and immediately began reprimanding him for failure to yield. How dare an ambulance with a patient fail to yield to a cruiser. Holy shit. What if the guy was distracted, on his own radio talking to their dispatch, or talking to the paramedic or the patient in the back. The dashcam looks pretty clear cut to me, the cop did run up on the guy, and the ambulance did brake and pull on to the shoulder. Obviously the cop was in such a hurry to catch a criminal that he decided to take a detour and give out a traffic ticket. What a joke.

    • http://www.twitter.com/Archinfidel ArchInfidel

      LCpl. That is exactly right, besides the fact of a narrow shoulder with a patient in the back I wouldn’t be to quick to pull off the pavement either!

      And the officer completely ignored the fact that there was a patient in the back, what if that was your family member, I would be pissed. He didn’t give a shit about the patient, or the SERVE part of the job!

    • AflakDuc

      Obviously the ambulance driver didn’t notice the trooper and you can tell when he did cause he hit the brakes in kind of an “oh shit!” manner. and did anyone else notice that they were driving in the middle of fucking nowhere where there was no cars in the other lane for fucking miles?
      NYS troopers always have this same ‘dont you know who i am’ egotistical bullshit attitude on everyone. about 90% of them i meet are scumbags who would throw someone in jail in a heartbeat for doing the same shit that they do in their off times Ex. beat the shit out of their wives and drive slammed. and to talk about how they took that severe criminal off the street who worked all week and had 2 drinks after work on a Friday afternoon really makes their dick hard talking about it at bars. doesn’t look like the apple falls far from the tree here.
      If you think this is a race issue your a fucking moron. If you think this has to do with Obama your a fucking moron. Its just a dousebag pulling over and ambulance. KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid. :beer:

      - My 2 cents

    • Vehement

      “Obviously the ambulance driver didn’t notice the trooper and you can tell when he did cause he hit the brakes in kind of an “oh shit!” manner.”

      Well that’s strange, consider the car in front of the ambulance did and pulled over before the EMT.

      “and did anyone else notice that they were driving in the middle of fucking nowhere where there was no cars in the other lane for fucking miles?”

      Even more reason for the ambulance to have seen and heard the trooper much sooner. And I might be wrong, but as I recall, the road had a few curves and I believe there were double yellow lines. If not a solid line anyway. If that is the case, would you suggest the trooper put himself and possible uncoming traffic in danger?

      “NYS troopers always have this same ‘dont you know who i am’ egotistical bullshit attitude on everyone. about 90% of them i meet are scumbags who would throw someone in jail in a heartbeat for doing the same shit that they do in their off times Ex. beat the shit out of their wives and drive slammed. and to talk about how they took that severe criminal off the street who worked all week and had 2 drinks after work on a Friday afternoon really makes their dick hard talking about it at bars. doesn’t look like the apple falls far from the tree here.”

      It’s funny, that even on this supposedly conservative site, so many people want to group law enforcement in this general category of egotistical, bad attitude, power tripping, corrupt, blah, blah, bad officers. Next time you all have an issue with a criminal, call a crackhead.

      “If you think this is a race issue your a fucking moron. If you think this has to do with Obama your a fucking moron.”

      Something that we can agree on at least.

      “Its just a dousebag pulling over and ambulance.”

      And a douchebag driving an ambulance and a douchebag interfering with police and resisting arrest. People seem to overlook that part somehow.

    • AflakDuc

      Sorry I’m not much of a brown-noser.
      If you think that it was dangerous to pass that ambulance on that stretch of road after going through all your wonder full driving schools that make you the best driver in the world at the academy, then maybe you should stick to riding a bicycle.
      if you feel that the law enforement system is perfect and doesn’t have its assholes, flaws, and corruption in it again, i feel sorry for you.
      F-Troop is a doushe because this whole incident could’ve been avoided so easily. if he had a problem with him go see the paramedic where his HQ is and deal with it there rather than making a complete ass of yourself and making a scene in public (Especially if theres a patient in the g-damn ambulance!) like most people would. cant tell me that him wanting to arrest the driver over that petty bullshit wasn’t an ego power struggle. and that driver should DEF be shot on the spot because NONE of us EVER drove down the interstate and didn’t notice that a cop came up on us hammers to hell. shit i think we should throw his kids in jail for that too. who the fuck does he think he is for not being as perfect as all of us??? :roll: and i need NYS Troopers for my own protection or solving my own problems like i need a third nut. :mrgreen:

  • Linda

    It’s obvious to me what is going on here. The police have lost the respect and authority that they used to have. Because of civil rights in this country crime is out of control. When I was growing up you did what the policeman told you to do when he told you to do it. The out of control part of this society just outrun the police and usually get away. And usually end up killing innocent people in their paths. I say it is time to go back to the “halt or I’ll shoot” days and maybe the blacks will start respecting authority again. I agree that everyone in the way of the officer should be arrested. They were obviously trying to intimidate him. If I was the cop I would have pulled my gun and told them to get the hell out of their.

  • jake

    first off, most of you that have replied to this are dumb asses. Vencenz04…….what the fuck are you talking about dude? “you would be interested in knowing why the ambulance was not in code 2 mode”. That was code 2 mode, no lights and sirens is code 2. I work in EMS as a medic. And the medic is not the boss of the emt. they are a parternership, the medic just has a higher level of training…but he is not the boss. Also, this cop was a fucking idiot. Cops and EMS usually work together, so this king shit cop thinks he can do whatever the fuck he wants cause someone didnt yield to him. Oh well….get over it. Ya the medic should have not left his patient, but the cop should have waited till they got to the hospital before making a scene. So all of you who agree with the cop, you are entitled to your opinion, but he was wrong. There is a lot of shit going on when transporting a patient. Ring downs to the hospital, monitoring your patient, communicating with your medic to see if your patient is going down the drain. paying attention to the road. the last thing on that EMTs mind is getting pulled over by some dick head asshole cop!!!!!!!!!!!!

    • http://WWW.FARMERS.COM AARON

      IF there is a lot going on in the back of the ambulance, then he should have stayed in the back of the ambulance!!

  • eddiep

    I enjoyed everyone’s comments on this incident. As far as I can determine the State Trooper had lost his composure before he exited his vehicle. I thought it was OK for the Paramedic to exit the vehicle and inform the State Trooper that they were enroute to the Hospital with a patient in their care. But the State Trooper was already super angry. If he had been coolheaded he would have agreed and followed them to the Hospital and ticketed them there as the Paramedic in Charge had suggested. Choking the Paramedic is a NO NO! I do think the Paramedic could have hopped back into the ambulance when the State Troopr had instructed him to do so and that would have gone a long way towards cooling things down. It is very clear to me that the State Trooper had lost control of the situation. If you watch the video the officer fails to make the onlookers stand clear and a safe distance from the officer. Many times the onlookers were agatated and standing right behind the officer! Very bad on his part. He could have been injured or worse by the on lookers. I am handicapped with muscular dystophy and I had a CHP officer do something very similar to this he was violently shaking me and then shoved me up against my vehicle and then with his left forearm cut off my air via my throat! All because after I gave him my DL and confirmed who I was and then after awnsering a few obligatory questions I then told him I no longer wanted to speak with him and under the Civil Disabilities Act that I didnt have to respond. Interestingly this happens to be the law its in the Civil Disability Act. Well he was choking me and yelling at me saying you tell me what I want to hear because your not going anywhere. All while the horrified on lookers watched. This was felony assault on a handicapped person and a violation of my civil rights too. And I took it to trial and the CHP actually threatened the witnesses. Who then vanished into the either! Wow ! I thought that happend only in the movies. Guess not. The moral of these stories? I guess everyone has a bad day now and then. If I could forgive the CHP for what they did to me I guess the Paramedics and the State Trooper should do the same.

  • Saxon

    Got to disagree a bit here. But the cop could have done a hell of alot better. I saw the driver breal and move over a bit. They are both emergency vehicles and neither always uses their lights and sirens. Having been a cop myself I think the cop should have been cool and just let them on their way from the get go. One day that paramedic might be called upon to save the cops life. It`s a tough call here but if this is how this particular officer works he`s an ass. And yes he himself can be charged for interferring with another emergency vehicle and the paramedic which was fairly cool about it offering himself up to arrest after they had reached the hospital or given escort to the ambulance. If it had been my wife or family member in that vehicle I would have shown my ass too.

  • vincenzo4

    Dearest Jake:

    I’ve been in law enforcement and criminal investigations for 32 years.

    Code Two is lights, no siren.

    I work in EMS as a medic. And the medic is not the boss of the emt. they are a parternership, the medic just has a higher level of training…but he is not the boss.

    The driver was inattentive-obviously did not scan his mirrors to detect an appproaching, Code 3 emergency vehicle-and as much confessed his lack of attentiveness to that trooper. The Lead Paramedic was obstructive as soon as he got out of the ambulance. Period.

    Also, this cop was a fucking idiot. Cops and EMS usually work together, so this king shit cop thinks he can do whatever the fuck he wants cause someone didnt yield to him.

    Negative…he acted within the confines of the law. If it were me, I would have visited the station with a witness officer and personally issued the operator the citation.

    Oh well….get over it. Ya the medic should have not left his patient, but the cop should have waited till they got to the hospital before making a scene. So all of you who agree with the cop, you are entitled to your opinion, but he was wrong. There is a lot of shit going on when transporting a patient. Ring downs to the hospital, monitoring your patient, communicating with your medic to see if your patient is going down the drain. paying attention to the road. the last thing on that EMTs mind is getting pulled over by some dick head asshole cop!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I was also a volunteer EMT for three years before moving to DC. I know what I am talking about. Facts, not emotions.

    I would have counseled the trooper to not allow the public to have the advantage next time. Yes, the trooper became angry-and in today’s climate people provoke that response to cause you angst and provide a trap door for their own actions. Your career is destroyed or tainted and the focus is on you-not their activity or deliberate criminal or regulatory violations.

    The people in this dash-cam knew exactly what they were doing to a white trooper.

    Lastly, I have myself pulled over for police vehicles running hot, as well as ambulances.

    The soft shoulder exception is still a violation of traffic law. Yielding to the emergency vehicle would have made this a non-issue.

    Lastly, I have also been on deployment to Iraq myself. What does this have to do with this trooper? If he had been to Iraq, he is my brother. Period.

    • Vehement

      Great post! Next time though use please use quote marks when quoting. lol I couldn’t figure out where you stood until I read Jakes comment. :lol:
      I keep seeing all this liberal whiney bullshit, especially in comments on Youtube. Some from alleged cops who are “ashamed” of the trooper. I’ve never been a cop, but I’ve worked in a brig for 4yrs in the Corps and worked about a year and a half at a medium security prison in NC. And whether military or civilians prisoners, they all play the same games. And this trooper took the same bait I’ve seen many new Correctional Officers fall for. Letting the other guy set you off. Whenever I see that I think of the video of the officer who pulls a man over for a traffic violation. The man goes completely bizerk and the officer is calm as can be. Remaining super calm is the best way to get back at such a person. The man rips up the ticket and throws it out the window. The officer calmly says that if the man does not pick up the ticket he will get another for littering. Classic! The man, ready to explode I’m sure, gets out and picks up his ripped ticket. Loved it! And I try to repeat the officers actions whenever faced with the same issue. However, this takes practice. I do not fault the cop for being “hostile”, though it’s always in their best interest to not get worked up whenever possible.
      Anyway, thanks for your post. I’m so sick of hearing about what this cop did wrong and nothing about the EMTs misconduct.

  • USMCTANKS

    All this over a stolen 1989 Monte Carlo……with a street value of 300 bucks.. if you’re lucky!!
    Time to get your minds right boys and girls. You’re arguing over pennies while the pirates are robbing and raping our mom. Don’t allow US to be divided. Quit acting like the video stars. Pay attention and be ready.

    • Vehement

      Even the troops need something to take their minds off the war when they can.

  • legal eagle

    I watched the video and I was truly shocked, 2 entities that we as tax payers rely very heavily upon to assist us in time of need. The trooper was wrong, so very wrong for having his hands around the neck of the paramedic no question about that.

    That was truly sad to see, really sad. :gun:

  • littlehim

    WHO THE FUCK WAS THIS TROOPER, HE WAS CRAZY AS SHIT, THE PARAMEDIC SHOULD HAVE FILED CHARGES AGAINST THIS TROOPER FOR ASSAULT BY CHOCKING. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE WE BEEN IN TRAFFIC AND SAW PEOPLE FAIL TO YEILD TO AN EMERGENCY VEHICLE, CAN YOU IMAGINE THE CHAOS IF THE TROOPERS OR POLICE GOT OUT AND CHOKED EVERYONE WHO DID’T YEILD TO THE SIRENS AND FLASHING LIGHTS.

    AND THEY ASK WHY THEY KILL BASTARDS LIKE THAT

  • USMC Dad

    About the vehements point:

    “And my goodness, if the car infront of him had already pulled over with the ambulance blocking his view, the EMT should’ve known well before the car to move over.”

    The car could not see the trooper. The car most likely heard the siren and pulled over FOR THE AMBULANCE that he saw in his rearview.

    What’s really strange is the troopers notion of his priority. He spent less than a minute at the gas station (look at the time stamps), never got out of his cruiser, didn’t even talk to the Sheriff that had the stolen car call under control. There was no emergency for the Trooper’s irrational “emergency vehicle” claim.

    The patient being transported had a more valid claim to “emergency” than the Trooper did.