Seattle police, politicians and prosecutors scrambled for answers on Thursday after KIRO Team 7 Investigators revealed video that showed a Seattle officer repeatedly kicking a juvenile suspect at a downtown minimart last month.

The video taken by a surveillance camera shows the teenager, his hands up high, being kicked in the leg, chest and face by an undercover police officer during a round-up of suspects.

The narcotics officer who threw the three kicks is James Jin Lee, a 10-year veteran of the force. Even though the security footage of the arrest inside the downtown convenience store occurred Oct. 18, it wasn't until Wednesday evening that SPD suspended Lee, sending him home on administrative reassignment.

The ACLU asked the Justice Department to investigate SPD for what it calls civil rights violations, saying in a statement that the incident is "is yet another disturbing example in a string of recent incidents in which the Seattle Police Department has engaged in unnecessarily violent confrontations with citizens, all of whom have been people of color."

KIRO Team 7 Investigators asked why Seattle police failed to open an internal affairs investigation -- despite having the videotape evidence in its possession for a significant amount of time.

Top brass didn't act until Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne started asking questions about excessive force. Why did internal affairs wait so long before taking action regarding the excessive force?

Two cameras inside Joe's Mart on Second Avenue and another camera on the roof of a nearby apartment complex rolled as frantic police officers searched downtown streets.

They were trying to identify and arrest some suspects who ran away during a drug sting nearby -- a sting where two undercover cops were punched.

A 17-year-old wearing an orange jacket and his younger friend hear yelling outside, leave the store, but quickly return as SPD officer James Lee approaches.

Wearing street clothes, Lee points at the young man, then kicks him hard in the upper leg, the chest, then the face.

A photo of the teen's face taken shortly after his encounter with police showed his right cheek was badly bruised and swollen.

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"The video clearly shows that excessive force was used," said Kenneth Bromet, the young man's attorney.

According to juvenile court documents, his 17-year-old client was charged with attempted robbery. A narcotics officer identified the boy as being present during the drug buy gone bad.

Store videotape rolling well before the arrest raises real questions about whether Bromet's young client could be two places at once.

"There is a presumption, at first, that the prosecutors give in most cases, I think, that the police officers are telling the truth. I'd like to believe the same and I imagine most of the time police are telling the truth - but the video is going to effect that and might effect it mightily," Bromet said.

While Bromet and prosecutors argue over guilt and innocence at trial scheduled next month, the Seattle Police Department is fighting its own battle over its public image.

"We need to find out, beyond what is on those videotapes, exactly what happened," said Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer at a press briefing Thursday.

Team 7 Investigators asked him why someone inside SPD sat on the kicking videotape for weeks without ever opening an inquiry into Officer Lee's conduct.

"That's a concern and a focal point of the internal investigation. Among the questions: who had the video? What action was taken pursuant to it? And was there any dereliction in not informing command staff of the possible violations of department policies?" said Kimerer.

The King County Prosecutor's Office said that it is satisfied proper charges were filed against the teenager arrested in the store. Team 7 Investigators couldn't get a solid answer as to whether or not anyone in that office saw the surveillance video before KIRO 7 aired it Wednesday night.