By Leila Merrill
EMS1
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jeffrey Bates’ paramedic license was suspended for 60 days, and he will remain on probation for three years because he refused to provide care to an injured man in police custody.
According to WZTV, Bates was responding to a report of a fight in which the man had been injured. When the paramedic arrived on the scene, police had detained the man, according to a consent order from the State of Tennessee Department of Health, WSMV reported.
The man told officers his hip hurt as he was being detained, according to the document. Police gave the information to Bates, who said, “F*** him.”
Officers and Bates “joked about the situation” and Bates asked if one police officer was recording at the time. The officer pointed to his bodycam and Bates stated “Oh, OK. I am Howard Hollis.”
The order states that Bates then approached the man and “began to yell and berate” him, saying he should not have run.
Police officers transported the man to jail, and he was eventually transported to Vanderbilt Hospital, where it was discovered that he had a broken hip and needed surgery.
The injured man has filed a lawsuit in response to the incident.
Bates now works in Montgomery County.