"Clear!" the second paramedic yelled, shocking the patient. A tense second passed before a steady beep echoed from the monitor. Her heart had restarted.
The paramedic turned back to the officers, her voice venomous. "Take those cuffs off him right now. He's a doctor."
The jogger survived, recovering fully in the ICU thanks directly to the immediate, flawless chest compressions performed by Dr. Adrian Foster.
What Officers Lawson and Cruz hadn't realized on that Saturday morning was the magnitude of the mistake they had made. In their rush to judgment, fueled by racial bias and a failure to follow standard situational assessment, they had nearly killed an innocent woman by interrupting life-saving medical care. Furthermore, they had assaulted a highly respected, board-certified physician.
The fallout was swift and severe.
When the paramedics' report and the officers' own bodycam footage went public, the outrage was deafening. The incident became a national headline overnight. Dr. Foster filed a civil rights lawsuit against the city and the police department.