Use of force under review after officers were spit on
Oct 11, 2012, 4:08 PM | Updated: 5:26 pm
The Office of Professional Accountability will investigate a force tactic used by a Seattle police officer during the arrest of a hit and run suspect.
Around 4:30 p.m on Oct. 6, officers responded to the area of 29th Avenue and East Jefferson Street on the report of a bicyclist who had been struck by a white van. The driver fled the scene.
Officers located a van matching the description less than a mile from the scene and attempted to contact the driver, a 34-year-old man.
According to police, the man resisted arrest.
“He physically resisted those efforts, creating a force response by our offices to get him into cuffs,” said Sgt. Sean Whitcomb with SPD. “And then during that, he spit a glob of saliva at officers, actually striking them.”
It was at that time that one of the officers used a specific force tactic that has now been called into question. Seattle police will not say what the tactic was.
“The suspect sustained injury during the arrest and was provided immediate treatment from Seattle Fire Department medics,” according to the SPD Blotter. “Per standard procedure, he was evaluated at Harborview Medical Center and was then booked into King County Jail for assaulting officers.”
The man was also booked for investigation of hit and run.
