Seattle Officer Kicks Juvenile in Groin, Chest, Head

A new videotape has emerged that appears to have caught another Seattle police officer using excessive force.

Images exclusively acquired by KIRO Team 7 Investigators show a teenager getting kicked in the leg, chest and face by an undercover police officer during a round-up of suspects.

An unnamed source handed KIRO Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne the arrest video a few days ago, and already, its contents are sending a wave of panic up the chain of command at SPD.

KIRO Team 7 Investigators identified discrepancies between the videotape, police reports and witnesses that raise a lot of questions.

In the past few months, Seattle police have been under constant fire for treatment of minority suspects -- and the newly aired videotape is only adding fuel to the fire.

The video was captured on a convenience store security system in downtown Seattle less than a block from where narcotics officers were running a sting on Oct. 18.

Store surveillance video cameras were rolling inside Joe's Mart near 2nd and Pine when a 17-year-old boy strolls in with a friend.

It's 8:31 p.m., and less than a block away, chaos and violence is just starting to emerge from the shadows.

There's a big fight under way at this moment. A group of men just punched and tried to rob an undercover cop during a phony drug buy.

Two men are immediately taken into custody, but three others run off.

Back in the store, the 17-year-old, wearing an orange jacket, and his younger pal hear shouts.

They see people running past the store. They venture outside to get a look.

What happens next is now the center of a major police internal affairs investigation.

The juvenile rushes back into Joe's Mart because a bandana-wearing undercover cop is coming at him.

Even though he raises his hands and stops, the officer throws a big kick to his groin.

The young man falls down and gets two more hard kicks, one to his chest, another to his face.

James Kelly says, "Wow, wow, wow, wow."

KIRO Team 7 Investigators showed the unseen videotape to Urban League President James Kelly.

At first he just shook his head and said "wow" over and over again.

"It's pretty disturbing. Disgusting. The bottom line is, I'm pretty outraged by it. Because it's been a series of interactions between police and the community of color, starting with the stomping of the Latino gentleman," Kelly says.

Even though Team 7 Investigators know that Seattle police have had the videotape in their possession far longer than KIRO-TV, it wasn't until late Wednesday, after Halsne called commanders for comment, that SPD hastily took action.

According to this statement released after hours:

"Seattle Police command staff sought and obtained the evidentiary video shortly after 4:00 p.m. Deputy Chiefs Clark Kimerer and Nick Metz immediately viewed it. In reviewing the video, questions arose as to the force used in this situation. They promptly decided to place the involved officer, a 10 year veteran, on administrative reassignment to home.”

KIRO Team 7 Investigators are not going to name the juvenile who was arrested that night in October, but can tell you, court records show he has a criminal past.

Both drug dealing and simple assault show up as juvenile court cases connected to his name.

Prosecutors have also charged the young man with attempted robbery, saying he was present in the parking lot the night when the undercover officer was hit in the jaw near the store.

However, there is some new evidence tonight that raises the possibility police might have used force on the wrong kid.

We re-wound the videotape to find the accused 17-year-old walked into Joe’s Mart from the opposite direction of the undercover buy.

Witnesses tell KIRO Team 7 Investigators, he didn't appear to have been running and seemed genuinely surprised by the commotion outside.

Halsne asked James Kelly whether that should make a difference to an arresting officer.

Halsne: "Let's give the police the benefit of the doubt. They got the right suspect. the adrenaline is flowing. They think one of their officers just got hurt. Does it give them the right to treat that kind of suspect different than an innocent one?" Kelly: "No. Not at all. they need to be beyond reproach. They need to be calm. They need to pursue but there is no need to kick or stomp somebody."

Seattle Police Chief John Diaz has personally briefed the Mayor's staff about this incident -- but again, not until just a few hours ago -- after it became clear Team 7 Investigators had acquired the videotape and were about to publicly air it.

We called the mayor but didn't get a call back.

In due time, we'll name the SPD officer who threw those kicks. But, for now, I can tell you he has considerable narcotics experience.