The July 2017 viral video illustrating the arrest of a University of Utah (UoU) nurse by a Salt Lake City police detective depicted a spiraled feud. It is still being investigated. Policies have already been changed.
The person at the heart of the matter, Bill Gray, lain in a gurney…completely unaware of the standoff transpiring at the hospital nurse station. He was in a comatose-state at the time burn unit nurse Alex Wubbels denied SLC police Detective Jeff Payne’s request to draw Gray’s blood. Minus a warrant or custodial arrest of Gray, Wubbels stuck to her laurels and defended her patient’s rights.
A day after the Salt Lake City Police Union rebuked the Salt Lake City police administration’s handling of the entire ordeal, Gray, a full-time truck driver and reserve police officer with the Rigby, Idaho Police Department, died from his wounds.
“Let us all remember Bill, and let us live by his example so that we too may brighten the lives of those we come in contact with.”
In July 2017, Mr. Gray was operating his semi when a vehicle being chased by Utah Highway Patrol troopers slammed head-on into Gray, causing a fiery crash which wound up burning 46 percent of Gray’s body. He was being treated at UoU hospital when Detective Payne showed up on July 26, 2017 to have a nurse draw Gray’s blood. It would not come to be, and things got ugly.
Enforcing hospital policies and preserving her patient’s rights, Wubbels declined. After some back-and-forth debate about Det. Payne’s probable cause and the legality of his request, Payne decided to carry Wubbels outside where she maintained “I didn’t do anything wrong!” That resulted in her arrest.
Within one hour of her arrest, Wubbels was released from Det. Payne’s unmarked police cruiser parked in front of hospital doors. The viral video burned for days.
Rigby Police Department has seven full-time sworn police officers. Gray served as a volunteer cop when not on the road driving his rig.
Reserve Officer Gray’s wife, April Gray, remained by her husband’s side in the University of Utah Hospital Burn Unit until his death on September 26, 2017. A GoFundMe page was set-up right after the July incident, the tally of which will now go towards funeral expenses.
In its official statement memorializing the life of reserve police Officer Bill Gray, the Rigby Police Department said, “Let us all remember Bill, and let us live by his example so that we too may brighten the lives of those we come in contact with. We Love You Bill. Rest easy. You will be sorely missed on the watch.”
