CHATTANOOGA, TN (WTVC/CNN) – At least one witness at a Tennessee hospital says police were out of line for using a stun gun on a nurse who refused to leave after a dispute with staff over his mother’s care.
Nurse Roger Davis, 42, was arrested Thursday night in the lobby at Erlanger Hospital, where he is employed, in Chattanooga, TN.
Patient Ethan Raymond witnessed the incident between Davis and officers and captured video on his cell phone.
The nurse reportedly got into a dispute with medical staff over the care of his mother, who was a patient in the emergency room.
The arrest report says employees first asked Davis to leave the hospital.
When officers arrived, they say Davis was talking loudly in the lobby. He was asked to keep it down, or he would have to leave.
The situation escalated from there. Raymond says one of the officers provoked the nurse.
"She was way out of line. I just know what I saw was the cop that's supposed to diffuse it, and instead, she was the aggressor, from what I saw,” he said.
The arrest report says during the commotion, Davis was swinging his arms and fists and punched one officer in the face, busting his lip. Raymond says this is not true.
"It's the cop who hit him in the face. It's the other way around,” he said.
The incident ended with a stun device being used on Davis. He was checked out by medical staff before being arrested on charges of assault, resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
Raymond says he believes the officers should be in trouble, not the nurse. He doesn’t feel like Davis did anything wrong.
“He was trying to leave, but the woman kept stopping him. It was almost like she was wanting to pick a fight. I think she should be held accountable for it, not him. He shouldn't be in jail for it,” Raymond said.
The officers say they were trying to use a “take down technique” to put Davis into custody but were unsuccessful. They then used the stun gun after the nurse reportedly refused to comply with orders.
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