Alleged assaults against Detroit EMS workers under investigation
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By Taryn Asher Fox 2 News
DETROIT (WJBK) -- There was a tense scene Wednesday night at a Detroit house on West Parkway. A man who lives there was arrested for assaulting an EMS crew.
"They weren't assaulted. They assaulted us," said Robert Murphy. "I mean, this is our house. We live here. And he told him to leave and they wouldn't leave."
Murphy dialed 9-1-1 after he says he had an adverse reaction to some medication. Following protocol, Detroit EMS was going to take him to Siani-Grace Hospital. He wanted to go to his doctor at Henry Ford.
"They said he couldn't take me there, so I said, 'Well, if you can't take me to where I've got to go, then I [don't have any] use for you,'" Murphy said.
It all started when Murphy claims he wouldn't sign refusal for treatment papers. That's when an argument broke out and an EMS worker barricaded himself inside the bedroom.
"[Said] he wouldn't leave it. And my brother said, 'You're going to get out of my house.' And so, him and the white guy and my brother, they were just toe to toe back there by the bedroom," said Murphy.
The EMS worker claims he ran in the bedroom for protection. You can see footprints still on the door where the paramedic apparently tried to keep his alleged aggressor out for as long as he could. While holding the door shut, he called police. But the brother allegedly busted it open and that's when a fight broke out. Police arrived minutes later and arrested Murphy's brother for the assault and battery of a city employee.
"He [is] in jail now when he didn't do [anything]. The man [lives] here. I mean, you can't protect your own house?" Murphy said.
Police are investigating this case and another alleged assault against an EMS worker the same night on the city's southwest side, this one involving a gun. It's something that happens far too often in Detroit. In fact, according to the union, EMS workers had the highest rate on injuries on the job than any other department in the city.
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