Severely injured jogger wants apology for Seattle cop’s ridicule

It’s the latest black eye for the beleaguered Seattle Police Department: two officers caught on tape mocking a critically injured jogger and the truck driver who hit him.

Among the insults recorded on the cops’ dashboard camera, “It’s not my problem. Why don’t you drive a car? Yeah, don’t try to jog to work dumb @#$!”

But somewhat surprisingly, Tim Nelson is not asking that the police officers resign.

“People make mistakes. I’ve been in trouble for making inappropriate jokes. I’m notorious for it, but people need to be held accountable,” Nelson told the Ross and Burbank Show.

Listen to Tim Nelson: Hit By Truck, Ridiculed By Police

Nelson wasn’t even going after the police department when he discovered the recording.

“We didn’t even know this existed on the tape. All we were doing was try to determine the circumstances of who was responsible for the accident,” he says.

And when he heard it, he says he was “pissed.”

“They’re public servants, we pay their salaries. This cop was under no duress, he wasn’t stressed out or anything because he was sitting there making jokes about the truck drivers’ accent and my injuries and shouting obscenities,” he says. “It was just completely unacceptable. I don’t understand what purpose this served to be making comments like this.”

Nelson suffered a broken back, six broken ribs, a fractured skull and arm, lacerated organs, and a collapsed lung.

He says he’d like an apology, but would settle at the very least for some acknowledgment from the Seattle Police Department. So far, none has been forthcoming.

“If they’re going to leave their microphones on, they’re open to being scrutinized and effectively called out on it,” he says.

Nelson says he continues recovering from his severe injuries and hopes to be back up to full speed in the next year after rigorous rehabilitation. He remains somewhat surprisingly upbeat and forgiving about the whole thing.

-Josh Kerns/97.3 KIRO FM