Seattle Cops Stomp On Detainee

Internal affairs detectives have launched a review after seeing a racially charged videotape of two Seattle police officers stomping on an innocent detainee.

KIRO Team 7 Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne received the footage from a freelance photographer.

Before the camera rolled, here was the scenario, gleaned from redacted public records provided by SPD:

WATCH IT: Officer Threatens, Kicks Detainee

On April 17, Seattle police responded to several 911 calls near the China Harbor Restaurant on the west side of Lake Union. Patrons of a nightclub complained of an armed robbery occurring in the parking lot. They told dispatchers the suspects were Hispanic.

About eight blocks away, a pair of guys who appeared to be Hispanic were strolling along the boardwalk when Seattle police officers saw them.

The videotape shows it's about 2 a.m. At least six squad cars full of Seattle police are trying to sort out suspects about a half-mile from a robbery scene.

Three men are being detained, but two of them appear to have nothing to do with the alleged crime.

A member of the SPD gang unit can be seen, down on his knees, yelling at a young man lying face down on the ground. It was unclear what he was saying until the camera moved a little closer.

The audio then became much clearer. The camera microphone picked up the following threat from the officer to the detainee:

"You got me? I'm going to beat the f***ing Mexican piss out of you homey. You feel me?"

About 16 seconds after the officer threatens to "beat the f-ing Mexican piss out of you homey," the uncuffed young man moves his hand to wipe his eye. The officer immediately gives him a violent kick to the head.

Looking at it again closely, it's possible the officer was trying to stomp on the suspect's hand and instead skipped the toe of his boot off the guy's head.

Either way, a recognized expert on policy brutality, who watched the footage, says it should never have happened.

"I suppose I could speculate on some excuse, but looking at the actual facts as recorded in the video, which is always the best evidence, I just don't see any excuse," former Bellevue police chief Don Van Blaricom told Halsne.

Van Blaricom has testified as a police practices expert in more than 1,500 cases nationwide.

"Well, there's absolutely no excuse for stomping on somebody's head who's lying on a concrete surface. Absolutely no excuse for that whatsoever," Van Blaricom said.

The videotape also shows that about 12 seconds after the gang unit officer did his stomping, a female officer walked over to do some stomping of her own; this time onto the back of the knee or calf of the same guy lying face down on the sidewalk.

Once the officers realized they had the wrong guy, they helped him up, brushed him off, and let him go with a serious case of road rash from the concrete.

He seemed a little dazed when the freelance photographer spoke with him afterwards.

Q: "So they kicked you in the head, man?" A: "Yeah, they did." Q: "Tell me why they kicked you in the head?" A: "I don’t know. They knocked me down and kicked me in the head." Q: "You had nothing to do with what was going on?" A: "Nothing to do."

While watching the videotape, Van Blaricom noticed the young man wasn't steady on his feet after getting up from the blow to the head. Audio tape confirms that the gang unit officers knew that, yet medical aid isn't apparent on the scene.

The Seattle police officer says to the now-released detainee, "I want you to relax your weight on the car, OK? All right. Put your hands back so you don't fall down. All right?"

Van Blairicom listened to that same officer's earlier comment ("I'm going to beat the f***ing Mexican piss out of you homey. You feel me?") and tells KIRO Team 7 Investigators his use of a racist comment is not only offensive, but could put the whole department in a bad light.

Van Blaricom adds, "If you add racial overtones to a police contact with a suspect, particularly with one that turns out to be totally innocent, that doesn't do anybody any favors. It's insulting to the individual who's called a racial epithet. It's insulting to that community or that culture and people react against it."

The Seattle Police Department today released a three sentence statement, essentially saying it's "aware of possible officer misconduct" and an internal review is under way.