Deputy kicks, then throws girl to the ground
SEATTLE (AP) — A King County sheriff’s deputy kicks a 15-year-old girl, slams her to the floor of a jail cell, strikes her and pulls her hair in violence captured on videotape.
Prosecutors released the surveillance video Friday in the assault case against Deputy Paul Schene, who is accused of using excessive force on the girl. Schene, 31, pleaded not guilty to fourth-degree assault in Superior Court on Thursday.
In the video, a deputy kicks the girl, pushing her back toward the wall. The deputy then strongly backs the girl against the wall and slams her to the floor by grabbing her hair. A second deputy enters the holding cell, while the first deputy holds the girl face down to the floor. The first deputy appears to hit the girl with his hands. The girl is then lifted up and led out of the cell while the first deputy holds her hair.
The second officer shown in the video was a trainee at the time and is not under investigation, Goodhew said.
According to court documents, the girl complained of breathing problems after the incident and medics were called to check her. A short time later, she was taken to a youth detention center and booked for investigation of auto theft and third-degree assault, the latter accusation dealing with her conduct toward the deputy. The girl has pleaded not guilty to taking a motor vehicle without permission, Goodhew said Friday, adding she was never formally charged with assault.
The incident last November began after the girl was brought in for an auto theft investigation, according to court documents. The footage shows the attack beginning after the girl enters the cell at suburban SeaTac City Hall and kicks off one of her shoes toward the deputy.
“We believe this case is beyond just police misconduct, it’s criminal misconduct,” King County Prosecutor Daniel Satterberg said. “This is clearly excessive force.”
Schene was investigated previously for shooting two people – killing one – in the line of duty in 2002 and 2006. Both times his actions were found to be justified, said Ian Goodhew, prosecutor’s deputy chief of staff.
Calls by The Associated Press to Schene’s lawyer, Anne Bremner, were not immediately returned Friday. Bremner, however, released a statement to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer in which she said the video does not tell the whole story. Bremner had asked Judge Catherine Shaffer not to release the video to the media.
“As we argued to the judge, it will inflame public opinion and will severely impact the deputy’s right to a fair trial,” Bremner said.
B.S. Report–What I hate even more than the officer’s actions is the fact that this little punk girl is likely going to pocket hundreds of thousands of dollars because this cop roughed her up a little.
I’m not defending the cop…it looks like he used excessive force. The reason I say, “It looks like” is because these things aren’t always as “clear-cut” as they appear on the video. I didn’t even see her kick her shoe off at the cop the first time I watched it.
Yes the cop roughed her up and he shouldn’t have–but he didn’t beat her up…at least I didn’t see him strike her, I saw him throw her to the ground. That’s a big difference. In my opinion, he should be reprimanded, maybe even suspended–but not fired.
On the other hand, the little brat who was possibly in on a car theft shouldn’t receive a penny. She wasn’t damaged. Had she been disciplined at home by parents (I’m assuming she wasn’t) she may have had more respect for other people and their property. I sure as heck wouldn’t want to be a cop in today’s environment.
Are you blind? At 0:09 Schene can clearly be seen kicking Calhoun. At0:10 Schene clearly throws an overhand right that lands on the left side of Calhouns head. At0:11 Schene clearly slams Calhouns head into the CONCRETE wall. At 0:13 Schene clearly throws Calhound down by her hair. At 0:18 Schene clearly punches Calhoun twice in the back of the head while being pinned face down by Schene and his accomplice. All this happens in 9 seconds. Not to mention it took a full 4 seconds between the sneaker flip and Schenes attack. As if he thought about it for a few seconds then decided to beat the piss out of Calhoun. Oh yeah, Schene claims her little sneaker cause bruising and bleeding on his shin. Well if you watch the video you can see that as Schene is slamming Calhouns head into the concrete wall, he bashes his leg HIMSELF on the stainless steel toilet. THAT’S what cause the bruising and bleeding you moron.
Seriously, you need to get your eyes checked if you claim you didn’t see Schene hit Calhoun. I just pray that you have a little girl and she gets the same abuse from some thug cop that this girl did. You shill! I bet you’d be squeling a whole different tune if it happened to you. You wreak of hypocracy!