Oklahoma Highway Patrol finally releases video of trooper attack on paramedic
Oklahoma Highway Patrol finally releases video of trooper attack on paramedic
As the dash cam clearly shows, a car is on the right-hand shoulder, partially obstructing the highway. Just as the highway patrol pulls up behind the ambulance, the medical unit must swing out to avoid colliding with the parked car.
Let me repeat that, because it's important: if the ambulance's driver, Paul Franks, had immediately pulled over when the racing trooper came up behind him, he would have created an accident. It is impossible to safely pull over while slamming into another vehicle.
After the ambulance gets past the parked vehicle, Franks slows and safely pulls over for the trooper. As Martin zooms by--at a speed that I would call excessive for just a stolen car report--he uses the radio to reprimand the ambulance for not pulling over.
Later in the tape, it's shown that the sheriff's department is already on scene at the stolen car incident. Martin is released from any need to be at the scene.
Then he whips around, guns his car, and goes out hunting the ambulance. When he catches up with the ambulance, what happens next is a textbook case for bad judgment and abuse of power.
Before the encounter is over, Martin has assaulted the paramedic, frightened the patient, and created a neighborhood scene that is so unprofessional that it's just about unbelievable. Enraged, he calls for backup, repeatedly threatens the unit's operators, curses, chokes and slams White up against the ambulance several times--an action the patient later said rocked the unit, frightening her.
He also keeps screaming "you insulted me." The trooper later says that Franks made an obscene hand gesture as Martin passed the ambulance, a charge Franks denies.
