An Auburn, Washington, police officer is on administrative leave after a bystander video showed him on top of a man in the middle of Auburn Way North, punching him in the head and face over and over. KIRO 7 counted about 20 punches in its review of the footage, and the man had already been tased before the punches started.
Police say the call came in around 3:15 p.m. Wednesday near 37th Street Northeast, where a man was running in and out of traffic and trying to open the doors of passing cars. The first officer on the scene says the man ignored his commands, so he fired his Taser. Police say the Taser failed to stop him, the two ended up fighting in the roadway, and it took four officers in total to get the man handcuffed. The man and the officer were both taken to a hospital, and police say the man did not appear to have serious injuries.
His family tells it differently. They say he was having a mental health crisis, was confused, had raised his hands, and was trying to reach his stepdaughter’s vehicle, and they say the confrontation left him unconscious. Jesse Wolf, a resident who watched it happen and filmed part of the aftermath, said the man could not roll over with the officer on top of him.
“The guy couldn’t roll over. The officer was on top of him and he was hitting him in the face repeatedly, and the guy’s head was bouncing off the concrete.”
Jesse Wolf, witness, to FOX 13 Seattle
Wolf said the man looked confused and unarmed, and that he could hear him crying out and apologizing while it was happening.
The department has placed the officer on administrative leave while the incident is investigated, and city officials declined to say anything beyond the department’s written statement. No finding has been announced on whether the force broke department policy.
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