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: Injustice in Seattle

SPD Officer Shoots Unarmed Attorney Three Times And Then Sues Him

By David Packman

In June of 2006, an off-duty undercover Seattle Police officer, then member of an SPD "proactive policing" Anti-Crime Team (ACT), was driving his motorcycle down a dual-use pedestrian and vehicular alleyway behind Pike Place Market where several nearby taverns were sending their patrons home for the night at the time. Why the officer chose to drive through Post Alley at that time of night, in an area he was well familiar with, instead of nearby main roads is a matter of contention, but witnesses allege that he was gunning his engine in an aggressive manner as he drove through the crowd that numbered at least 75 to 100 people.

Witnesses allege that as he drove through the crowd he hit a female paralegal with his side mirror which sparked an argument between the woman and the plain-clothed off-duty officer where the woman put herself in front of his bike. Witnesses also state at this time that the officer drove forward while the woman was hanging on to his windshield which then caused his bike to tip. At this point, witnesses state that the officer grabbed the woman and threw her forcefully against a nearby door which sparked the nearby crowd to grab the officer.

At this point witness testimony diverges, as many witnesses who gave SPD officers testimony later recanted when interviewed by an outside agency brought in to investigate the matter, some stating their testimony was altered or pressured by investigating SPD officers. Video evidence also appears to have been lost by the Seattle Police Department who stated to outside investigators that there was no video taken despite there being several nearby cameras that were trained on the site where the attack took place so there is no way to confirm whether the officer's story or all the witnesses are right.

But, witnesses agree that at this point the officer was attacked by the crowd that came to the woman's defense and, in the course of the attack, the officer fired his duty weapon 5 or 6 times into the crowd and shot a nearby unarmed defense attorney 3 times. Witness accounts vary, at worst they say the attorney's involvement was limited to trying to grab the officer to pull him off the woman but none saw him punch or otherwise assault the officer who alleges that he fired into the crowd in self defense and shot the 52 year old lawyer because he feared for his life.

The incident drew a great deal of media attention because the officer in question, a second generation cop, had a previous history of problems in the department, and even a possible criminal past. As a result, in a rare step, the SPD turned to an outside department to investigate the incident, the results of which ended up with no charges filed as prosecutors stated that the crowd had some justification to interceded on behalf of the woman who was attacked by the officer.

This officer's time in and out of the spotlight includes the following incidences:

In 1984 he was allegedly arrested and plead guilty to charges of 2nd degree burglary, 3rd degree theft, and criminal trespass as a juvenile.

In 1991 he was allegedly arrested again and charged with attempting to elude officers in a Grays Harbor incident, the case was ultimately transferred to superior court at the defendant's request and no mention of the case exists in any records afterward. In fact, when questioned about his history by KIRO 7 news reporters, the police department states that the department has no knowledge of such records, nor do they have his initial application for employment in order to ascertain whether these incidences were mentioned on his application.

In 1995 a sustained finding of conduct unbecoming and improper use of force was found against him in an off-duty road rage incident where he assaulted someone at gunpoint. The incident alleges that he chased another motorist for several miles, held a gun to the victim's head and hit him several times with the gun while grinding his face into the pavement of a parking lot. He only lost 15 vacation days as a result of that sustained finding.

In 2003 he was accused, along with one other ACT officer, in the widely publicized beating of a 57 year old homeless Native American (in the same area of Post Alley as the incident above). The victim, Nix, was beaten so badly that he nearly died four days later in jail when he collapsed in a shower from a lacerated spleen and several other severe internal injuries. He flatlined at least twice before surgery that was needed after he nearly bleeding to death after being denied medical care in jail. He alleged that after the beating officers paraded him in front of prisoners in the jail so his injuries would be a "lesson" to anyone who would think about assaulting an officer. Prosecutors dropped all charges against the victim after testimony from several witnesses indicated the officers attacked him so quickly he likely wouldn't have known that it was police officers who were beating him.

In 2005 he was accused, along with two other ACT officers, of strip searching three black men, yanking on their testicles, and conducting an invasive body cavity search against policy. Findings partially sustained for strip-searching all three men in front of each other in the same room, a finding that resulted in "re-training".

2006: The Post Alley incident noted above.

Additionally, recent reports in the press concerning possible racial bias of obstruction arrests indicate that this officer is reportedly 12th for the entire department in the number of controversial "stand-alone obstruction" charges, sometimes referred to as "contempt of cop" filed. There have also been several other abuse complaints filed against this officer, though none others are known to have been sustained.

This year, the attorney the officer shot 3 times filed suit against the officer. In a move highly reminiscent of the infamous SLAPP suits filed by the police guild in the 90's, the officer filed suit against the attorney that he shot at the expense of the city who retains a private law firm under a no-bid contract to defend officers against civil rights lawsuits. The city, in fact, has paid the private lawfirm $76,000 in taxpayer funds so far in it's effort to allow this officer with a checkered past to sue the unarmed civilian that he shot while off-duty.

Predictably, as a result, the officer has found himself placed in the media's eye yet again, giving the city of Seattle and it's problematic police department yet another black eye, and it's taxpayer citizens yet another hit in their pocketbooks, in the process. The officer in question is still on the SPD payroll, reportedly now as a narcotics officer.

Sources for this story:
A Tale of Two Cops: Seattle Post Intelligencer
Witnesses Give Differing Views Of Fight In Post Alley: Seattle Post Intelligencer
Controversial Seattle Police Officer Files Civil Suit: The Stranger
Seattle Officer Accused Of Unecessary Force: KIRO 7 News
The Cops' Credibility Gap: The Seattle Weekly
Police Shooting Leads To Two Lawsuits: Seattle Post Intelligencer
Shielded From Justice: Human Rights Watch
Law Firm Gets Millions To Defend Cops: Seattle Post Intelligencer

Full post as published by Injustice in Seattle on July 05, 2008 (boomark / email).