Caught on camera: Motorcyclist held at gunpoint by King County deputy

A motorcyclist was stopped at a traffic light when a King County detective approached him on foot with a gun.

The incident happened on on Aug. 16 at 145th and 5th between Shoreline and Seattle when motorcyclist Alex Randall was stopped at a red light. It was caught on his helmet camera.

During the encounter, the detective, who didn’t show a badge or identify himself, asked to see the motorcyclist’s ID. The video then shows the detective pulling the motorcyclist’s wallet out of his pocket. The deputy told the motorcyclist he was driving recklessly and putting others in danger.

“Give me your driver’s license or I’m going to knock you off this bike,” the detective says when he first encounters Randall. “Take your ID out. You move this bike and I’m going to dump you.”

The video of the incident shows Randall informing the sheriff’s detective that he was unarmed and asking if he could turn off his motorcycle.

“I’m sorry you have a gun drawn on me,” Randal says on the video.

“That’s right, because I’m the police,” the detective yells back.

The detective told Randall that reckless driving was an arrestable offense, but never cited him. He claimed on the video that Randall was riding at 100 miles an hour. Randall argues that this was a “fabrication.” He clarifies on the video he posted online that he could not hear the detective’s instructions well through his helmet and over the sound of his bike.

KIRO 7 showed the video to King County Sheriff John Urquhart. As soon as he saw the video, Urquhart suspended the detective, and called the motorcyclist to apologize. He says that he will show the video to every new sheriff recruit as a lesson.

You can view the unedited video from the motorcyclist’s helmet camera here (Warning: Video contains graphic language).