In 2009, I posted about an Oklahoma cop who pulled over an ambulance that had a cardiac patient in the back because the cop believed that the driver of the ambulance had flipped him the bird. The paramedic in charge of the crew told the trooper that they had a patient in the back, asked the trooper to follow them to the hospital and told him they could handle the situation there. It was at this point that the trooper let his oversized ego take over, and instead of doing the sensible thing that would have best served the public that both the cop and paramedic are sworn to serve, decided to arrest and choke out the paramedic.
The reason why the cops were so hell bent on arresting this medic? The trooper was on the way to a call because another cop had been in an accident that was his fault. The trooper was rushing to the scene so he could do a blood draw on the driver that had been hit, hoping that it could be proven that the driver was drunk and thereby make it his fault, and not the cop’s. It seems that the police have some real corruption issues here.
In reviewing the case, the local prosecutor agreed that the cop was in the wrong and had likely committed an unlawful assault against the paramedic, but also stated that pursuing charges would not be in the best interest of the law and decided to give the cop a free pass. All he wound up receiving for punishment was a five day suspension.
I bring this case up because I really missed the ball on the conclusion of this case. Here is how the rest of the story went down.
The paramedic filed a lawsuit in the case, and the cops (as always) hid behind qualified immunity and wanted the case dismissed. While all of this was going on, the paramedic was arrested again by a small town Oklahoma cop as the medic was on the way to the courthouse to testify against another cop in an unrelated case.
The court refused to dismiss the medic’s lawsuit, setting the case for trial, and the cop appealed that ruling. The appeals court sided with the paramedic and the case moved forward. The paramedic wound up getting half a million dollars.
The trooper wound up being investigated again, this time for sexual allegations involving photos with accusations that the photos were of minors.
This is where karma finally decided to show up. The trooper had a heart attack in 2018 and needed an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He was sent to a rehab facility for treatment, where he had a second heart attack, got a second ambulance ride, and finally died. I am not above celebrating the death of someone who deserves it, and it seems that his death was the only way that he was ever going to pay for being a dictatorial asshole, so I am going to gloat over this one. The only way this could have turned out better is for the paramedic who he roughed up to be the one who took him to the hospital.
I will treat people to the best of my ability, no matter how badly they have treated me, because I swore an oath to do so, and my word is my bond. However, I never swore that I wouldn’t be happy that someone got what was coming to them. Karma, after all, is a bitch.
6 Comments
Billy Pilgrim · January 29, 2025 at 5:38 am
The ambulance crew saved my wretched ass twice, they are your best friends.
On this last one I lost my favorite camo hat with liner in the ambulance but it was worth it.
Maybe the cop was born with a heart two sizes too small like the Grinch.
SmileyFtW · January 29, 2025 at 8:48 am
A quote I’ve seen: “It’s called Karma, and it’s pronounced Ha Ha… Fuck you”
Noway2 · January 29, 2025 at 9:28 am
Your comment about upholding your oath reminds me of a statement I read once where a guy felt he had a moral obligation to report some event to the sheriff’s office, so he mailed them a postcard. The point being, while he had a duty to report, nothing said he had to be speedy about it.
TRX · January 29, 2025 at 9:40 am
Little Rock PD got a wild hair up its ass and decided ambulances weren’t official emergency vehicles, and therefore would be ticketed for exceeding the speed limit. Not long after, a transportee died in the back of the ambulance while the patrolman was taking his time writing out the ticket.
The Pulaski County Sheriff issued a press release saying that while the city had its own police, the city proper was within his jurisdiction, and he would assign deputies to escort ambulances from that point forward. Which happened for a few months, until LRPD decided to see reason.
Downside: the Sheriff was a jackass I’d had a couple of personal encounters with years before, when he was just a small-town patrolman. Those were the origin of my realization that cops are just gangbangers with fancy clothes and a retirement plan.
Grumpy51 · January 29, 2025 at 1:58 pm
Last century, I was working for Caddo Parish sheriff’s dept and headed to a call-out in the early morning hours (in my personal vehicle). I was speeding and was about the only vehicle on the road. A Shreveport cop decided to pull me over and asked where I was going in such a hurry. Now, I’m in tactical uniform and a fellow deputy goes speeding by – I said “same place he’s going.” The SOB wrote me a ticket. I made it to the office where my Sgt immediately called me into his office and asked if I had been given a ticket, “yes sir.” I gave him the ticket and the following day, Sheriff Don Hathaway made it known that deputies would start ticketing ANY city vehicle breaking the law. Lasted less than 2 weeks (IIRC).
There was a huge pi$$ing match between Mayor Hazel Beard and Sheriff Don Hathawy. I had the utmost respect for Sheriff Hathaway…… and ZERO for the mayor…..
tom · January 29, 2025 at 9:53 pm
So…. Grumpy. you admit you were speeding in your personal vehicle, (emergency lights or not)and you don’t think you should have gotten a ticket? Also , to be fair…. so the sheriff had previously been ignoring city vehicles breaking the law….( guess a guy in some sort of tactical uniform , zooming around at night might not raise red flags.