Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brown has fired one officer and disciplined another in connection with the controversial July 26 arrest of University Hospital nurse Alex Wubbels, according to public records obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Detective Jeff Payne, who arrested Wubbels, was terminated Tuesday, and his watch commander on the day of the encounter, Lt. James Tracy, has been demoted within the department, according to the documents.
Brown’s decision is the culmination of an internal affairs investigation that began the day after the confrontation, which stemmed from Wubbels’ refusal to allow Payne to draw blood from a patient involved in a fiery crash in Cache County earlier in the day.