A Florida couple is claiming a police officer violated their civil rights by abusing his authority and refusing to let them seek emergency services at a local emergency room.
On 28 July, Kevin Enciso was rushing his pregnant wife, Sabrina, to Jackson Memorial Hospital. Ms Enciso said she had been in an accident the day prior, and was experiencing a lot of pain. She was fearful that she was on the verge of a miscarriage.
Her doctors advised her to seek emergency medical care, so the couple set out for the nearest hospital.
When they arrived, a pair of police officers were blocking the entrance to the emergency room with their cars. Security footage from the hospital shows Mr Enciso driving up behind one of the police cars just before a second police far, facing the other direction, stops. The officers proceed to chat with each other from their car windows while blocking entry to the emergency room.
Annoyed that his wife was suffering and he was being held up by a pair of seemingly-oblivious public servants, Mr Enciso honked his horn.
This prompted one of the police cars to pull away, but the officer in the second car proceeded to pull Mr Enciso over and demand his license.
The video makes it clear that Mr Enciso is frustrated at this point. He asks for the officer's supervisor, but neither man is willing to cede ground; the officer refuses to call his supervisor, and Mr Encisor refuses to produce identification.
Eventually the officer orders Mr Enciso out of the car. Ms Enciso, grabbed her husband's phone and continued recording the encounter, eventually getting out of the car herself, to which the police officer sarcastically replied "Oh, so you're ok now?"
He then proceeded to — against the wishes of Ms Enciso — call for fire department emergency services because she said she was "in an accident." Ms Enciso asked the officer not to call EMS because they were already at the hospital and just wanted to get to the emergency room.
The arguments between Mr Enciso and the officer continue as the couple waits for the unnecessary EMS team to arrive at the hospital. He continues to demand the officer's supervisor, but the officer says he can't provide it because they're in "emergency mode" waiting for the fire department. Mr Enciso reminds the officer that they could just move and let him go to the emergency room, to which the police officer offers his own diagnoses, saying Ms Enciso was "alert and breathing."
According to Mr Enciso, he was assured a supervisor would eventually arrive on scene, but no one showed up.
Following the incident, the couple issued a formal complaint to the hospital and has since alleged that their civil rights have been violated.
The Miami-Dade Police Department said it is aware of the video and has launched an internal investigation.
