New details released in firing of Sacramento Fire Department captain
SACRAMENTO — There are new details in the firing of a Sacramento Fire Department captain after a call for medical aid ended with a man's death.
A Sacramento city letter addressed to Jeffrey Klein reads: "You are hereby terminated from your position as Fire Captain." The termination follows a call for service in February 2020 that was captured on a police body cam.
Klein was the captain in charge as paramedics met officers outside the home with a call for help. The video shows paramedics describing their patient as agitated.
Paramedic: "…he's in the back, we just need you to get him cuffed, restrained, or talked down so we can check his (inadudible) fix him…"
When officers went inside, they explained their plan to the patient's mother.
Officer: "…I want you to be aware of what we're going to do…we're just going to get him kind of restrained…"
Mother: "…ok…"
The video then shows the patient struggling with officers before being cuffed.
The Sacramento Fire Department termination letter, first reported by the Sacramento Bee following a public records act request, reads, "the act of putting a patient on their stomach during a medical emergency—violated the 'behavioral crisis restraint protocol.' "
The protocol states "restrained patients will be placed in a sitting, supine, or lateral recumbent position."
The body camera audio of the patient calling for help is also documented in the termination letter, reading that the patient shouted, "I can't breathe…Momma…Daddy…"
The patient, 48-year-old Reginald Payn, stopped breathing by the time he was in the ambulance. He was pronounced dead one week later.
The termination of Captain Klein allows for an appeal. The fire union confirmed the process is in arbitration right now.
The Sacramento Police Department declined to comment on this case citing a lawsuit that has been filed by the family.
