March 05, 2010

Nurse cuffed by Chicago cop settles for $78K

The nurse was forced to sit in the back of a squad for 45 minutes after refusing to draw blood from a DUI suspect

Chicago Sun-Times

CHICAGO — A nurse who was handcuffed when she refused to draw blood from a drunken-driving suspect has settled her lawsuit against a Chicago Police officer for $78,000, according to city records.

Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center nurse Lisa Hofstra sued Officer Marcelo Rodriguez and the city, saying she was handcuffed and forced to sit in the back of a squad car for 45 minutes in August. She said Rodriguez became belligerent when she told him the hospital could not draw blood until the driver was admitted as a patient.

"It is important to remember that nurses work for hospitals and not the Chicago Police Department," Hofstra's attorney Blake Horwitz said Tuesday. Horwitz said his client understands the need for officers to obtain blood samples, but "it just has to be done through proper means."

In court papers, Rodriguez said Hofstra was obstructing justice but acknowledged that she never resisted arrest.

The driver, Raquel Wright, 47, was arrested for allegedly striking 24-year-old motorcyclist Alexandru Foamete with her Volvo at 3:05 a.m. Aug. 1 at Ashland and Wilson on the North Side. She failed a field sobriety test and refused further tests, police said. Foamete died Aug. 7. Wright has been charged with reckless homicide and aggravated DUI.

A hearing is set for March 10, court records show.