Video depicts Seattle officer striking man in 2010

January 4, 2013 @ 5:59 pm

SEATTLE (AP) - A lawyer released a video Friday showing a Seattle police officer striking a restrained man during an arrest in 2010.

Isaac Ocak, who was 18 at the time, had left a car locked with the engine running outside a department store while he returned some items on Dec. 29, 2010, said his attorney, James Egan. When he came back, officers questioned him about why he'd left it there.

The store was on private property, and leaving the car did not constitute a crime or infraction.

The video ( http://is.gd/BDWiLe) shows Ocak initially speaking calmly with the officers and referring to one as "sir" but becoming more agitated as he was questioned for several minutes and Officer Larry Longley grilled him about why he had so many keys on his key chain. Egan obtained the video under the state's Public Records Act and publicized it Friday after filing a complaint for damages against the city on Ocak's behalf.

As the questioning continued, Ocak occasionally lifted his hands off the hood of a patrol car despite orders to leave them there. As officers pressed him to the hood, Ocak resisted. Longley grabbed Ocak's mouth and Ocak bit him, prompting the officer to punch him twice in the head as other officers held him down.

Egan said the incident shows unnecessary aggression by the officers, and fits in with the Justice Department's findings that Seattle police had a pattern of unnecessarily using force, especially in low-level situations that could be resolved verbally.

The police department's Office of Professional Accountability is reviewing the arrest, which Assistant Chief Jim Pugel previously determined to be justified.

"Officers were concerned the car could be a potential getaway vehicle for a shoplifter or robber, and tracked down the man who had left the car running," Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said in a written statement. "Officers found the man was not the registered owner of the vehicle, and discovered the man had, following prior run-ins with police, been flagged as a potential danger to officers."

Egan said there was no reason for officers to act the way they did when Ocak had committed no crime.

"Once the `suspicious vehicle' was determined not to be so suspicious, the officers should have let Mr. Ocak go at most with a warning or a trespass admonishment issued by the strip mall security, since this was not a public roadway," he said.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (8)


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  • CH wrote...
    Sue for Millions $$$$$$$$$$ - hope I'm on the jury . . . .
    January 4, 2013 5:40 pm
    After he Sues the socks off the SPD, hope he Sues each SPD thug that touched him. Cut and dry case. Hope the officers names are released for sj.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • shark75 wrote...
    Sounds like he better come up with a "my hearing aid battery needed to be changed" defense...otherwise he deserved a good a*ss-beating and we don't owe this pu*sy a dime.
    January 4, 2013 5:43 pm
    When you find yourself at the wrong end of a police officer's barton/gun/taser, chances are you did something to put your idiot a*ss there. Even if you're AJ McCarrel...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    shark75 wish you were in his shoes at that time . . . .
    January 4, 2013 6:32 pm
    When you find yourself at the wrong end of a police officer's barton/gun/taser? How many keys are on your key ring? Sound like you work for SPD. Shoeshine boy? check your spelling - police 'baton'
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Cash wrote...
    James Egan
    January 4, 2013 7:27 pm
    Is only in this to sue you the taxpayer, he could not careless about his clients. These videos he claims to contain police excessive use of force only contain use of force against a suspect who is in the wrong. This suspect was way out of line and did not cooperate and the Officers used force necessary period. Again right now any time force is used this attorney and people like CH assume it was "Excessive." At what point do you start to understand that there are bad folks out there who are dangerous and fail to cooperate? Just because there was force used does not make it excessive, if fact it became necessary here because of the client. Go away James Egan and ego.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    You got gold here James Egan . . . .
    January 4, 2013 7:52 pm
    reach for the sky! Only problem everyone in LE gets off. Kops kid gets killed with "his gun" that's ok. Make sure the officers names gets out. Fail to cooperate? Tell me where? But its ok to get cold cocked?http://youtu.be/cmPpz4UVPr0 That Assault even if you are a kop!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HPD 5-0 wrote...
    And?
    January 5, 2013 9:35 am
    ....LE is dirty work. Most of you don't have the balls to do it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    LE is dirty work, most of you don't have the balls to do it . . . .
    January 5, 2013 10:11 am
    easy for you to say when your with your gang of thugs (LE) with guns. Take on one with out a gun. Like to see your balls (just you) with a gang of gangbangers and you. You can even keep your gun on you. Your a big Man in a group but a little boy by yourself. Gangbangers and LE are one in the same. Only LE gets away with it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • sportsguru wrote...
    CH
    January 5, 2013 12:26 pm
    I couldn't have said that better. That's some real talk, just like gang bangers, they are a bunch of pu55sie by themselves. Once you get them in a group, they are as tough as the Terminator. Punks
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }