The paramedic who was placed in a choke hold by an Oklahoma State Trooper while a patient lingered in the back of an ambulance has filed a lawsuit.
Maurice White Jr. filed the suit in federal court today, claiming his civil rights were violated by Trooper Daniel Martin.
Martin said he pulled the paramedics over because the driver refused to yield for him when he sped by with his lights and sirens wailing. Martin also claims that the driver of the ambulance, Paul Franks, made an obscene gesture to him as he drove by.
But Martin also claims that White assaulted him when he stepped out of the ambulance after being pulled over, which proved to be a lie once the dash cam video was released.
The only thing that is certain is that Martin placed White in a choke hold even though White did not physically provoke him, an incident which was caught on video by the son of the patient in the ambulance.
White, who only listed Martin as a defendant in his suit, is asking for more than $10,000 in damages.
Meanwhile, Martin remains on administrative leave. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said it has concluded its internal investigation into the matter, but have yet to release its findings.
But White is not holding his breath.
“Mr. White does not think the state will take responsibility for the actions of trooper Martin, and will thus take matters into his own hands,” said Richard O’Carroll, White’s attorney. “Mr. White therefore asked that we conduct an aggressive discovery into the past behavior of trooper Martin … and find out how he ended up an employee of the state.
“We’ve waited long enough.”