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.
:O) You wrote * The are the more engineering type biker *
Keep trying, you’ll make it one of these times....LOL
Hell’s Angles need spelling lessons....Its late at night and I am slap happy...thanks for the chuckles..
I don’t respect cops for just that reason. They are either brownshirt wannabees or they are just plain stupid.
As I was watching this guy on the interview, when asked what he thought of the video, his response was enlightening, and I instantly thought, coward.
And I also think this rose to a level of felony assault not misdemeanor. He needs to be a convicted felon and forbidden from owning firearms for the rest of his natural life. He'll still be able to get on half the police departments in America with a misdemeanor.
Well, as I said, paraphrasing, "What S--t could possibly happen that exculpates the LEO?
A shoe bomb? :)
Tghe other cop came back to the cell to make sure the place was cleaned up and no evidence was there.
Your argument is pure BS. The cop is a punk and a coward and needs to be fired. Seattle is going to pay big time for this. The best thing the cop did is make her rich.
I’m with you. Maybe she’ll have some respect for the law, or at least decide it’s in her self interest to stay out of it’s way, if not actual RESPECT now.
Seattle won’t pay a dime.....show’s how closely you read the story.....it was a King County Deputy, who works for King County, which is not the City of Seattle.
West Virginia Man Charged with Assault after Farting on Officer; September 29, 2008
And your point is?
This is just another case of one asshole trumping up charges on another.
badge bunny S.O.P.
Well then the county pays.I can’t imagine beating a abusing this 15 year old girl. She put up her hands when the cop charged at her. There is no accuse for the treatment she got, arrested or not. Hope the beater cleans toilets the rest of his life, and I’m not anticop, just this cop.
At 15 I stood a foot taller then my mother but if I addressed an adult in the manner this teenager addresses this cop then the as* kicking mom would have given me would have made this incident look mild.Teenagers used to never even think of testing a cop like that.
Indeed.
And now I have a great grandson due in November.
sigh
He will be born into a country that has come unmoored from its legacy.
More likely she'll be rich, and contemptuous of LEOs.
OTOH, what you said could very well apply to these two officers, should the Federal proscutors bring criminal charges under TITLE 18:
§ 242. Deprivation of rights under color of law; and § 4. Misprision of felony.
I've included a link to the statutes, which are posted upthread. Notice that the penalties are quite severe!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2195917/posts?page=119#119
Thanks for that post. At least a few are left who can understand. I don't like the incident occurring, but we have to return to a value system and respect for authority because God put authority there...even Obama (oooh, that hurt).
That is an unfair generalization. I know LEOs a personally and go to church with several who are very worthy of respect and do their jobs correctly. Not one of them would have treated the girl quite that way. However, she obviously needed some major correction of some kind which needed to involve at least spanking her behind soundly.
This isn’t about the girl.
This is about a police officer.
Two 200lb+ police officers have a 100lb female IN CUSTODY, IN A HOLDING CELL, READY TO CLOSE THE DOOR, then apparently ask the female to remover her shoes.
Yeah, she has problems of her own, including a bad attitude.
NO WAY, NO HOW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES are the actions of the 2 deputies warranted in this case. NO JUSTIFICATION for assaulting a female in that manner. NONE!
Officer #1 should never be allowed to be police officer again.
Officer #2 should be suspended for a few weeks for not stopping officer #1.
Intersting solution.
I think I’ll pass.
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