Paramedic involved in OHP incident arrested ("Why can't we just get along")

Tulsa World ^ | 1/11/2010 2:18 PM | Rhett Morgan

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

VIAN - A paramedic involved in a traffic stop scuffle with an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper in May was arrested Monday on municipal complaints that include resisting arrest, police said.

Maurice White Jr., 56, was booked into the Sequoyah County jail on complaints of resisting arrest, failure to obey a lawful order, speeding and failure to comply with the compulsory insurance law, Vian Assistant Police Chief Brian Chandler said.

Driving his POV, White was stopped for speeding around 9:15 a.m., Chandler said. While Chandler was completing a citation, White approached the police car and was asked to return to his vehicle, police said.

“I asked him again to go back to his vehicle, and he said, `What was I going to do' if he didn’t?" Chandler said. “It went downhill from there.”

White’s vehicle allegedly was clocked at 39 mph in a 25 mph zone, Chandler said. He faces fines of $668, said a spokeswoman with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office. On May 24, White, while working for a Creek Nation ambulance, was part of a tussle with OHP Trooper Daniel Martin.

Martin had stopped the ambulance at Paden after he thought the ambulance driver, Paul Franks, had made an obscene finger gesture, which the trooper felt was an “act of defiance.”

White came out of the back of the ambulance and said he told Martin they were taking a patient to the hospital and asked to continue the dispute there. The scuffle ensued at the side of the ambulance. A video of the altercation was broadcast on national TV networks.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

He's BAAAACCCKK!

Just a followup from a earlier story.

VIAN - A paramedic involved in a traffic stop scuffle with an Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper in May was arrested Monday on municipal complaints that include resisting arrest, police said.

Maurice White Jr., 56, was booked into the Sequoyah County jail on complaints of resisting arrest, failure to obey a lawful order, speeding and failure to comply with the compulsory insurance law, Vian Assistant Police Chief Brian Chandler said.

Driving his personal vehicle, White was stopped for allegedly speeding around 9:15 a.m., Chandler said. While Chandler was completing a citation, White approached the police car and was asked to return to his vehicle, police said.

“I asked him again to go back to his vehicle, and he said, `What was I going to do' if he didn’t?" Chandler said. “It went downhill from there.”

White’s vehicle allegedly was clocked at 39 mph in a 25 mph zone, Chandler said. He faces fines of $668, said a spokeswoman with the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office. On May 24, White, while working for a Creek Nation ambulance, was part of a tussle with OHP Trooper Daniel Martin.

Martin had stopped the ambulance at Paden after he thought the ambulance driver, Paul Franks, had made an obscene finger gesture, which the trooper felt was an “act of defiance.”

White came out of the back of the ambulance and said he told Martin they were taking a patient to the hospital and asked to continue the dispute there. The scuffle ensued at the side of the ambulance. A video of the altercation was broadcast on national TV networks.

Martin served a five-day suspension, levied July 21, for “conduct unbecoming an officer’’ for his role in the tussle with White.

OHP spokesman Chris West said Martin had a right to stop the ambulance and had justification to arrest the paramedic for obstructing an officer, but that the situation could have been handled differently.

[Gator113]

Good... a happy ending.

[loungitude]

“tussle” “scuffle” Funny how they describe assault by cop. What a bunch of crap. If a citizen were to ‘tussle’ with a cop, he’d be cuffed, stuffed, kicked, tasered, sprayed, etc. and charged with attempted murder of a peace office or some other BS.

[Principled]

We’ll teach that dark-skinned, dialect-rich man to screw with us - driving an ambulance w/ an injured man inside is no damn reason to speed in MY town.

jeez

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

[JLS]

I was thinking about this case while driving today. I was wondering if the alledged officer had yet been charged with interfering with an emergency vehicle. He certainly should have been as he committed that crime while abusing his emergency signals to go rubberneck at some robbery scene where he did not even bother to stay.

[Mark was here]

It is all about the revenue for the revenue agents.

[ImJustAnotherOkie]

The ambulance did not have his lights on and was speeding. It was not an emergency vehicle. It was a long story but the Trooper was right and this ahole is crazy. He wasn’t even driving the ambulance.

[BerryDingle]

39 in a 25! Holy mackeral. Throw the key away. And the cop got his feelings hurt besides.

[Domangart]

I was wondering about the fine. Its getting so bad that they will confiscate all your property and have a yard sale to raise revenue.

This is an example of never going after a bum, they will screw up right in front of you.

[BykrBayb]

There was a patient in the ambulance. They were not speeding. The cop was screaming at the driver for not pulling over when the cop came around him.

The paramedic tried to diffuse the situation, but the cop was hysterical.

When the backup arrived, the cop had finished assaulting the paramedic and was busy assaulting the driver. The other cop took control of the situation, and released the ambulance crew and their patient.

The cop who arrived on the scene and released the victims was right. The cop who blew his cork, assaulted the ambulance crew, and held their patient hostage was wrong.

[FourPeas]

The solutions is really quite simple. If the guy drives the speed limit, there's no traffic stop. I'm sick and tired of people ignoring the 25mph speed limits. The limits are there for a reason. If the guy doesn't like it, then he can go through the legal process of getting it changed. This is a nation of laws.