As controversy continues over the arrest of a University Hospital nurse by a Salt Lake City police officer attempting to get a blood draw, the patient at the center of a confrontation has died.
William Gray, 43, a full-time truck driver and a part-time reserve officer with the Rigby, Idaho, police department, passed away Monday night at the hospital, according to a Facebook post by the Rigby department.
“Bill was truly the best of mankind,” according to the Facebook post. “Always willing to help, always willing to go the extra mile. Bill was a big man, with a bigger heart. Everything about him was generous and kind.”
Meanwhile, members of a police union on Monday sent a letter to Salt Lake City Police Chief Mike Brownand Mayor Jackie Buskupski saying the city’s handling ofthe matter had “unfairly and improperly made pariahs” of the officer and his superior, who are being investigated for arresting nurse Alex Wubbels on July 26.
Gray was taken to University Hospital’s burn unit that day after being injured in a fiery crash while driving a semi truck in Cache County .
Gray was severely burned on 46 percent of his body and had been in critical condition, according to Jennifer Stamper, a spokesperson for his family. Hospital spokeswoman Suzanne Winchester confirmed Tuesday that Gray passed away at 11:20 p.m. Monday.
A man in a pickup truck who was fleeing from the Utah Highway Patrol crashed head-on into Gray’s semi on U.S. 89/91 near Sardine Canyon, according to Logan police, who investigated the collision. That man, Marcos Torres, 26, died at the scene.
After the crash, Logan police requested that Salt Lake City police obtain a blood sample from Gray.
Detective Jeff Payne arrived that night to get a blood draw, but hospital nurse Alex Wubbels told him repeatedly that hospital policy barred a draw unless the patient was under arrest, there was a warrant allowing the draw or the patient consents. Gray was unconscious and could not consent.
Payne, acting on directions from SLCPD Lt. James Tracy, aggressively arrested Wubbels.
The arrest drew widespread outrage when Wubbels' attorney released police body camera footage of the encounter on Aug. 31.
The department placed both officers on administrative leave on Sept. 1.
On Sept. 13, Buskupski announced that an internal affairs investigation had found that the officers violated several department policies during the July 26 confrontation. A review by Salt Lake City’s independent Police Civilian Review Board also found the officers violated department policies, the mayor said.
Payne and Tracy have until early next month to respond to the internal affairs investigation, after which Chief Brown will use the reports to make a decision on the officers’ future.
The officers could face consequences as severe as termination by the department.
A criminal investigation into the incident also continues, involving the Unified Police Department, the FBI and the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office.
The Salt Lake Police Association said in the Monday letter to Brown and Buskupski that the police union’s executive board was “extremely concerned and dismayed” at the “premature release” of the officers‘ body camera footage and information related to the disciplinary investigation.
The letter, signed by Association President Stephen Hartney, said the union was, at this point, not arguing or even discussing the merits of the allegations raised against the officers. “Rather we are solely concerned ... with the ‘investigatory process‘ which we believe has been corrupted ... “
The letter claims that the city has not followed an “agreed upon and carefully scripted process” for investigating the conduct of police officers.
The city’s actions also violated the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA), and may prevent the two officers from receiving a fair disposition of the charges against them, the letter states.
The release of the body cam footage and information from the disciplinary investigation “has created a public furor which makes reasoned determinations difficult, if not impossible,” the letter states.
The letter notes that “police tactics sometimes strike the untrained lay person as excessive and even abusive, when they are anything but.”
Taking someone into custody “does involve going hands on and an officer must be forceful, particularly when the arrestee is refusing to cooperate or strikes out at the officer,” the letter states. “... It is for this reason that the release of the body camera footage and information from the disciplinary investigation was ill-advised, violates GRAMA, and creates an explosive atmosphere for no reason whatsoever.”
The letter says that as a city and a society, “we cannot have police officers who fail to get involved or mishandle a situation ... because they are worried about being condemned by the public, and by city officials before an investigation is complete. If this occurs, the lives of both officers and the public will be put at risk,” the letter states.
The letter also asks that no one associated with the city "make any additional inflammatory statements about this matter" until the investigation, and the disciplinary and appeals process, are complete.
— Tribune reporter Luke Ramseth contributed to this story.