Multiple investigations are underway following an incident that took place last November in Rochester, New York, where a man was kicked out of an ambulance, then collapsed on the sidewalk in full view of emergency personnel and police officers, and died a few weeks later.
Rochester Police released bodycam footage of an encounter on Nov. 30, 2023, between paramedics, police, and a man who told them he was having trouble breathing.
In it, police are seen pulling up to an ambulance parked on the street at 2 a.m. that morning. Local news reports say they were called to respond to an assault on board the vehicle.
Bodycam footage shows a female EMT approaching one of the officers saying, “I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but he will not get out of our truck. He’s gotta go.”
She opens up the doors to the truck where the man is inside and the officer tells the man the EMTs want him out of the ambulance. The man replies, “I couldn’t breathe.”
The man is heard heaving and grunting, but the officer commands him to exit the truck, saying, “No games. Get out.”
That same EMT who first approached the officer explained that the man told first responders that he had pain from drinking water, but once he got into the ambulance, he “jumped” at her, “demanding” oxygen, and “would not let go” of her.
The man said he “was freaking out” and told authorities, “You’d freak out, too, if you can’t breathe.” In response, an officer said, “I’d probably try to control myself a little bit better.”
As the man puts on his coat and gathers his belongings, he asks, “Can you take me to the hospital?” to which that same officer immediately says, “No,” and one of the EMTs responds, “We tried to take you, but, honey, that was unacceptable.”
Despite the report that the man allegedly lunged at a paramedic, he wasn’t combative or threatening toward any of the authorities at the scene. He strained to…
Read the full article here
