OHP Says Paramedic Flashed Obscene Gesture

By Lori Fullbright, The News On 6

UNDATED -- OHP troopers give their side of the story concerning a scuffle with a Creek Nation paramedic. 

Trooper Daniel Martin wrote in his report, that after the ambulance pulled out in front of him, while he was running hot to a call, he radioed the driver to pay attention.  Trooper Martin says the driver then flipped him off.

Trooper Martin says when he pulled over the ambulance to talk to the driver, the paramedic in the back, Maurice White, jumped out in a hostile manner and repeatedly got between the trooper and the driver.

Martin says when he tried to arrest White, he resisted.  Martin says the driver apologized for not yielding and denied making the finger gesture.

Trooper Martin says when he told White he would be arrested at the hospital, White grabbed his neck and refused to let go until the trooper applied a choke hold.

Trooper Martin says if White hadn't interfered, the confrontation would never have happened.

Read the Trooper's Report                                                                                                        Read the Paramedic's Report
Read a witness's statement 

Meanwhile, EMT Maurice White has hired an attorney to give his side of the story, and not surprisingly, it differs from the trooper's version.

OHP has said a cell phone video doesn't tell the whole story of the incident between Trooper Daniel Martin and Paramedic Maurice White.  White's attorney says then, OHP should provide the trooper's dash cam video.

"Let's see the tape as soon as possible. A picture is worth a thousand words and the tape will prove this officer did not see a failure to yield, did not have his siren on and the driver did nothing wrong," said White's attorney Richard O'Carroll.

O'Carroll says the trooper didn't turn on his siren until after he passed the ambulance.

He wants to know why the trooper had a civilian woman in the front seat with him and why he was running hot to a stolen car report and why did the trooper pull over an ambulance and put a woman's health in jeopardy?

"He communicated immediately he had a patient. This lady had fallen over, was having chest pains, she needed to go to the hospital immediately," said White's attorney Richard O'Carroll.

He says the trooper, not White, was the aggressor in both instances, that he assaulted White, not the other way around and that the trooper used an illegal choke hold on White.

Watch the video.

He says White is not set on filing a lawsuit, since he must work with troopers, but he does want a reckoning of this trooper's behavior.

"He did not ask for it, did not publish this, will be offended if they try to do a cover up. He's not going to tolerate that," said White's attorney Richard O'Carroll.

O'Carroll says White's actions were all about protecting his patient.

The district attorney hasn't decided yet whether to file any charges.

Both troopers are still on the job, during the investigation.  White and Trooper Martin actually worked a car crash together over the weekend without any trouble.

However, there may be more fallout from the scuffle outside of Oklahoma.

A Georgia paramedic was so outraged by the video he vows to stop using products from Oklahoma-based companies.

Hayden Barnes has sent a letter to Governor Henry demanding the troopers be dismissed.

Barnes is organizing other Georgia EMT's to boycott the 40 Atlanta-area QuikTrips, ConocoPhillips, and Alamo and National Car Rental companies. 

05/28/2009  Related Story: Question Raised In Trooper, Paramedic Dispute