Posted on 02/27/2009 5:39:58 PM PST by microgood
SEATTLE - A security video released Friday shows a King County sheriff's deputy purportedly shoving and kicking a 15-year-old girl in a holding cell after her arrest.
The security video was obtained by KOMO News under the state Open Records Act.
The deputy, Paul Schene, 31, has been charged with fourth-degree assault in connection with the Nov. 29 incident in a holding cell at SeaTac City Hall. Schene pleaded not guilty to the charge Thursday, and he was released on his own recognizance.
According to court records, Schene and another deputy arrested a pair of 15-year-old girls for investigation of auto theft after they were stopped driving a stolen car.
The girls were taken to the holding facility at SeaTac City Hall for fingerprinting and other processing.
Trouble allegedly began after Schene escorted one of the teens into a holding cell. While trying to take her shoes off, the girl kicked off her left shoe, which struck the deputy in the shin, the document said.
The video shows the girl crossing her arms and kicking off her shoe through the doorway of the cell. The video then shows the deputy's violent response. (Watch the video clip.)
Court records say Schene kicked the teen in the upper thigh area, then pushed her into the back wall before taking her down on the floor and putting her in a handcuffing position. Once on the floor, Schene grabbed the teen's hair and yanked her head and neck upward, the document said.
With the help of the other deputy, Schene then handcuffed the teen, the document said. While doing so, Schene appeared to strike the teen twice overhead, investigators noted. However, due to the angle of the camera, they could not determine whether the deputy had actually hit the teen.
The document states teen then began complaining about not being able to breathe. She later told investigators she was pulled up to her feet by her hair and taken back to the regular holding area. Medics were called to tend to her, but she was not taken to the hospital.
Both girls were booked into the Youth Center on auto theft charges. One of the girls was also booked for assault for allegedly assaulting the deputy.
Schene's attorney, Anne Bremner, released a statement Friday in response to the video's release. The statement said:
"We had argued strenuously that the video tape released to the media this morning not be released because it does not tell the whole story of the incident. As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy's right to a fair trial. We will defend this misdemeanor case in court. No story can be sliced so thin that it does not have two sides. We hope that judgment will be reserved until all the facts of this case are given fair consideration in court."
On Dec. 1, the detective assigned to the auto theft and assault case checked the security video as part of her follow-up investigation. She saw the holding cell video and immediately notified her supervisor.
An investigation then began, and the accused deputy, an 8-year veteran of the force, was placed on paid administrative leave the following day. He currently remains on leave.
Sgt. John Urquhart said the surveillance video shows Schene "using more force that was necessary as far as the prosecutor's office is concerned. And as far as we're concerned, that rises up to the level of an assault."
Schene said the teen had become enraged when she found out she was going to be booked into the Youth Center, the document said.
The teen told detectives she had not meant to hit the deputy with her shoe, and said she never resisted arrest. She also said the incident left a bruise on her right hip, as well as scratches on her arm and neck.
The second teen later told investigators her friend and Schene had been "arguing at each other" since the traffic stop.
The second deputy said the alleged victim was "real lippy," calling the deputies names and "basically trying to piss us off."
Schene refused to explain why he had made the two strikes toward the teen in the holding cell since he and his partner appeared to have the teen under control. He also refused to say whether the strikes actually made contact.
Now that the criminal investigation is complete, the sheriff's Internal Investigations Unit will launch its own probe. The result will determine discipline, which could include termination.
I bet that it is possible to determine the approximate velocity of that shoe from the video. It looked pretty slow to me. He got a hematoma from the shoe's impact? I don't think so.
The main point is that he hit her twice after she was subdued.
I’m trying to figure out if you’re drunk, playing devil’s advocate or just crazy. Your comments are weird.
However, she was already being booked for stealing a car. It's too late to throw whing-dings by the time you get in that situation, so the best bet is just play it cool.
Everything she did made these cops believe she was dangerous ~ even her own mother feared her ~ else why did she call in to the police that her car was stolen?
BTW I'm not going to "bully" you on anything ~ just note that you are probably not sufficiently aware of the world to read any of my posts. Takes a better than average Freeper to figure them out sometimes.
Was she supposed to put the cuffs on herself? The first cop could have cuffed her instead of hitting her. He made the wrong choice.
It is not clear from the video what is happening with her right arm, but it is clear that she is subdued, with both officers holding her face down on the ground, and her left hand held behind her back. It doesn't really matter what she was doing with her right arm, since at that point she was no threat to the officers. They could have taken their time cuffing her.
Everything he did is pretty typical of what might be very justifiable out in the rough and tumble of picking up people on the streets ~
This particular environment might have been as alien to him as to that girl (although I suspect that in the long run she's going to learn a lot more about it).
Well, I’m happy to say the law doesn’t agree with you. He’s in big trouble as reported by the news station I saw today. And well he should be. He’s an adult male in power assaulting a young female.
Her mother probably was afraid for her daughter to be out driving her car and hoped the police would find her and bring her home while her car was still intact. She probably had to file a report or they wouldn’t look for her daughter.
Now I’m not saying the child didn’t deserve discipline but if her mother had done to her what the police did (who had no business attacking a child), her mother would probably end up in jail only to be attacked in the same way.
Only police are allowed to attack children? She is 15, not an adult.
Again, I’m glad this guy is in big trouble as he should be.
I’m not sufficiently aware of the world to read your posts?
What a "newsie" has to say on TV is irrelevant in this sort of case.
The discussion thread you didn't follow back to its origin was about WHAT might justify the cop's behavior, and there are a great number things ~ I named some of them.
You can't just come into the middle of something and start mouthing off like you're some ditzy 15 year old girl. You know doggone well why she tossed her shoe like that.
Okay, I’ve narrowed it down to 2 options. Drunk or Crazy. The “devils advocate” option is out.
The problem isn't me, it's you ~ you think you've got all the evidence you need in this case but you don't.
You're like Obama ~ he thinks that because he passed a bar exam that makes him an economist.
He's still a two-bit near-downtown Chicago lawyer who preys on an unquestioning ethnic constituency.
Guy will never get into the big time ~
There's a lot to this case with the cop that's not obvious. We don't have the soundtrack for one thing, and secondly, she's on her way to juvenile court for car theft so we'll never hear what she has to say now that she's figured out what her place is in the grand scheme of things.
You are right, I don’t get it. I see 2 big men, one small underage person. I see no excuse whatsoever for their attack on a small, underage female. There is no reason whatsoever that I can see where this is justified.
She was just kicking off her shoe in his general direction. Kind of like “fine, you want my shoe, here it is”. If she had picked up the shoe and hurled it at his head, there would still be no justification for his actions.
And then to see him lie just takes the cake. He hurt his shin attacking a child and then tried to pass it off as her shoe hitting him and he has to go to the hospital for a hematoma (did I read that right??)
Anyway, heading to bed. I’m glad I don’t have to deal with brat kids but I’m pretty sure of one thing, if her mother had done to her what the officers did, she’d find herself in jail and the same officers would look down their noses at her for being a child abuser.
This is not her bedroom, that's not her daddy, and they can chain you up for their convenience (which was obviously what the intent was).
And yeah, TWO BIG MEN because that's what they use to seize and hold people in stir ~ BIG MEN ~ REALLY BIG MEN, or really tough men, guys with rippling rope-like muscles in fact.
There's nothing she could say that could justify his attack, Her statements can justify arrest, restraint, incarceration.. but no words can excuse this attack. She could describe eviscerating him and his entire family and eating the entrails and this assault is still inexcusable - without action, not just words, on her part.
Her behavior certainly indicates her intention to leave the premises ~ even if she has to hurt some one.
And all he had to do was close the door to stop the deadly "attack of girl shoe flipping"
I'm sorry. I'm back to "Please don't tell me you work in law enforcement."
Point is, the girl was out of line. Better hope I’d never be on the jury in a case like this.
Do you also like gladiator movies?
I would think kicking a 15 year old girl and slamming her against the wall and slamming her face down to the floor would be dangerous to a fetus, and should not be done unless one were in danger of bodily harm.
Deputy Paul Schene and the second deputy better pray the feds don't take an interest. They are in enough trouble as it is. They could be looking at years in Federal prison. See link to post outlining penalties for violating § 242. Deprivation of rights under color of law; and § 4. Misprision of felony.
This is NOT how a cop is supposed to be.
For this cop to argue that she injured him by kicking her shoe at him is Crazy!
Anyone with clear vision can easily see that there was nearly no strength or speed once the show left her foot .
The way she kicked it off would mean it landed with little more strength then a marble would land when dropped from a height of 3 feet.
Highly doubt that the show even hit the cop.
Then there is the Fact that the girl is 15 (obviously not a adult)
As such the cops need to understand(via training) how a kid can throw a tantrum (with comes closest to what the girl was doing..instead of her flipping the cop the bird she instead kicked off her show towards the cop)
Then take the Fact that even though the cop(s) were in No Physical Danger from this girl,these very same cops then proceeded to beat this girl (2 grown large men against one small/petite girl ) and to do so under the supposed threat/fear of injury by this small/petite girl in a jail cell without any weapons.
This cop ( a poor excuse for an law officer ) deserves to be charged with felony assault,that should also result with his being terminated as a officer as well as losing all and any pensions he does or does not have built up to now.
Too many cops fall into the power trip of being a cop
Too many think it is ok to do things like this
Too many know they will be helped/backed up by their department
Yet...these cops forget they are to protect and serve and not be judges and give sentence .
It is the right of a Judge to pronounce sentence upon a person (after proper trial is given a person,whether it is a trial by ones peers or when person is to be given trial simply at Judges viewing).
For all the B.S. dummies who think this is in any way just (what happened to that girl) has got their head up their butt.
Such Dummies either do not care an or know/realize what rights a person has and or how the Judicial system works.
I do not say that cops have an easy job....Indeed cops have a job in where they deal with lots of B.S. (and we indeed need our officers of the law).
Thankfully Most cops do not act in this manor.
Many cops are wrongfully trained to act in the manor as seen in this video.
So often the blame comes down to wrong training by superiors and or the superiors looking the other way when they should instead address issues like this with both charges and or re-training (depending on the circumstances).
When one becomes a Cop.
One is then held at a higher standard and looked to as a leader of moral and legal policy.
Although a cop has a gun(and power) does not mean in any way that the cop can use it in any way they like or want.
This girl in the video may not be a angel (supposedly haven stolen a car) but this girl is also not a adult...this girl also did not attack the officier..
this girl did not deserve the beating she sustained..
If this girl gets a decent lawyer she will get a huge sum of money for a attempt of getting past the drama she was subjected to.
I know no one watching this thread would agree with what this cop did if it turned out the girl being beaten on was their own daughter (who could still be in junior high school and high school at most).
I would offer that Dumb Ass Cop three 3 minute rounds in the ring in hand to hand combat (in a mixed martial arts setting).
The catch would be simply that the cop would not be allowed to tap out or opt out once the match started (Not to worry i am not interested in breaking any bones or killing the As_whole ... Just teach him a lesson in hand to hand combat)
Seems to me the “blows” were partly an artifact of the video system ~ simply not enough frames to see where his hands were in a continuous stream.
Be interesting to see what it all looks like when played back at actual speed, and then one frame at a time.
Remember the baby sitter thing where it looked like she was smacking the kid around YET when reviewed at correct speed it was clear she was merely changing his diaper.
I suggest you let this one play out before deciding the cop even hit the 15 year old (who, btw, was acting out more like a 25 year old inebriated street hooker)
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