King County reaches settlement in excessive force case
SEATTLE -- King County has reached a settlement with a man who suffered a broken nose during a confrontation with a deputy.
The county agreed to pay $75,000 to Jeff Gold, who alleged Deputy Matt Paul used excessive force during an incident on May 1, 2010. The same deputy was involved in a 2009 incident that left Christopher Harris paralyzed and in need of 24-hour care for the rest of his life.
The incident involving Gold occurred at a bus stop near West John Street and Queen Anne Avenue North, according to King County sheriff's spokesperson Cindi West.
Deputies were addressing a group of young men when Jeff Gold began taking photos of their activities on his phone. Deputies told Gold to stop taking photos of the incident, but he did not.
It is legal to capture images and videos of police activity in public places as long as doing so does not interfere with their work. Gold's attorneys said the man kept his distance from police, and was not interfering in any way.
When Gold left the scene, he jaywalked in front the deputies, West said. The jaywalking escalated the situation, and Paul, who was on scene, "tackled him and pushed his face into the ground," according to a written statement by Gold's attorneys.
Gold suffered a broken nose and facial injuries. He was held for investigation of obstruction of justice, but was not charged.
Paul made headlines when he slammed Harris, a civilian, against a wall outside Cinerama in downtown Seattle in 2009.
Surveillance video from the theater showed Harris racing toward Paul, who appeared to have stopped with his arms outspread, and of giving him a shove that knocked the smaller man eight feet and through the air into the base of a wall.
County prosecutors declined to file charges against Paul, saying there was no legal basis for a criminal charge.
Witnesses said the incident began when several men, some covered in blood, ran into a convenience store where Harris had been shopping. Deputies chasing down the suspect were mistakenly told by witnesses that Harris was the man they wanted. Harris had not been in the fight, but he ran.
The surveillance video shows the end of the chase as moviegoers are exiting from the Cinerama theater, about 2½ blocks from where the chase began.
Harris comes into view, makes a slight turn and slows down as Paul gives him a fierce shove, knocking him off his feet. Harris' head slams into the base of a tiled wall outside the movie house.
Two witnesses said Harris seemed to be stopping and said, "I don't have anything, I didn't steal anything," just before he was hit by Paul, who weighed about 270 pounds, about 100 pounds more than Harris.
One deputy acknowledged on the witness stand that the deputies did not identify themselves to Harris before they started chasing him.
King County reached a settlement for $10 million with the Harris family.
The county agreed to pay $75,000 to Jeff Gold, who alleged Deputy Matt Paul used excessive force during an incident on May 1, 2010. The same deputy was involved in a 2009 incident that left Christopher Harris paralyzed and in need of 24-hour care for the rest of his life.
The incident involving Gold occurred at a bus stop near West John Street and Queen Anne Avenue North, according to King County sheriff's spokesperson Cindi West.
Deputies were addressing a group of young men when Jeff Gold began taking photos of their activities on his phone. Deputies told Gold to stop taking photos of the incident, but he did not.
It is legal to capture images and videos of police activity in public places as long as doing so does not interfere with their work. Gold's attorneys said the man kept his distance from police, and was not interfering in any way.
When Gold left the scene, he jaywalked in front the deputies, West said. The jaywalking escalated the situation, and Paul, who was on scene, "tackled him and pushed his face into the ground," according to a written statement by Gold's attorneys.
Gold suffered a broken nose and facial injuries. He was held for investigation of obstruction of justice, but was not charged.
Paul made headlines when he slammed Harris, a civilian, against a wall outside Cinerama in downtown Seattle in 2009.
Surveillance video from the theater showed Harris racing toward Paul, who appeared to have stopped with his arms outspread, and of giving him a shove that knocked the smaller man eight feet and through the air into the base of a wall.
County prosecutors declined to file charges against Paul, saying there was no legal basis for a criminal charge.
Witnesses said the incident began when several men, some covered in blood, ran into a convenience store where Harris had been shopping. Deputies chasing down the suspect were mistakenly told by witnesses that Harris was the man they wanted. Harris had not been in the fight, but he ran.
The surveillance video shows the end of the chase as moviegoers are exiting from the Cinerama theater, about 2½ blocks from where the chase began.
Harris comes into view, makes a slight turn and slows down as Paul gives him a fierce shove, knocking him off his feet. Harris' head slams into the base of a tiled wall outside the movie house.
Two witnesses said Harris seemed to be stopping and said, "I don't have anything, I didn't steal anything," just before he was hit by Paul, who weighed about 270 pounds, about 100 pounds more than Harris.
One deputy acknowledged on the witness stand that the deputies did not identify themselves to Harris before they started chasing him.
King County reached a settlement for $10 million with the Harris family.
I hate when people use the excuse of "it's so dangerous, they could lose their lives" this is BSÂ they are not even in the top 10 of most dangerous jobs. Police are cowards
@Stopseattlepolice Nothing to do with the Seattle police. I can understand the attention you want, but I'm not visiting a Facebook page. I will never support that cause with that name. There is just a handful of police that choose to be swine. I don't know what it's like to kiss your kids and wife before going to work, not knowing if you'll return to them. I support all police 110% with the exception of the bad apples. Change the name and maybe I will go to the page.
from zoominfo:
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One tip led us to the Basic Law Enforcement Academy in Burien where warnings about Deputy Paul surfaced years ago.
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In 2007, Deputy Paul was being paid to help out part-time at the academy with defensive tactics training.It can get physical, but Paul was considered too rough and aggressive even by police standards.
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One Tacoma Police officer said she felt the brunt of Matt Paul's force during a mock scenario at the training academy.She says was knocked down, then Paul fell on top of her and was choking her with her baton to the point where she nearly passed out.She says an instructor intervened, but not before she was injured....
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Kimerer also wrote that Paul's issues at the academy could be seen as an "early warning indicator" that Paul should be monitored down the road....
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We asked why Paul wasn't watched more closely for the next three and a half years....
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But only after Paul used force in nineteen cases and racked up seven complaints to Internal Investigations over his five and a half year career.
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He's not exactly "Officer Ftriend;y", is he? Gold's case was investigated by DOJ. Also, in reading further, it seems they never fully investigated the incident with Christopher Harris (where he was slammed head-first into the concrete wall at the Cinerama) - they only investigated AFTER they were called out for it.
This deputy should be out of a job!!!!! Why don't I see mass protest in the streets to remove this garbage swine from his job?? KC tax payers should be appalled, but I just don't see a lot of it. This guy, Deputy Dumb Dumb basically murdered a person. Trash murderer. He should go hit trees in his free time, or maybe KC should pay for 4 hrs of anger management for this pig. And the unions that protect him? Trash pigs swine too. He makes good cops look bad, and there are much better officers than this trash pit.
 @Jo Po You should visit this Facebook page I found out about. This guy is posting these same news articles in an attempt to raise awareness among the Seattle community with an attempt to clamp down on the officials- Mayor McGinn, The Chief of Police and demands that the police be held accountable and we (the community/people) start seeing some changes- I.e. having this idiot cop fired, or we will petition against them and re-elect different officials next term.
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I encourage you and everyone else on that reads this post to visit the Facebook page and become Friends so you can see it and together we can make a change and take the power away from the police and start regulating to STOP BRUTALITY!
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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004998339359
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 @StopseattlepoliceÂ
You do not have to keep posting this - especiually since it is not even relavent to this story. This story involves the King County Sheriffs - NOT Seattle Police.
Way to go deputy Paul, add another tic mark below your name on the dirtbag wall of fame. Any chance we are going to hear from the newly elected sheriff........my guess is NO, he is part of the problem way back when this first started
@stopseattlepolice, et all  Hello! Anybody there? This cop doesn't work for Seattle, SPD or McSchwin! He works for King County. Try to keep your head on straight, ok?
LOL, love how komo skips most of the details and brings in the drug addict accused of an assault with a knife who refused to stop. It would be nice to see some actual reporting.
and who is getting fired? No one? One hell of a Union they have.
I am all for firing this dude! In my opinion, he should have been fired a long time ago. We need to put a stop to this madness. It all starts with NOT re-electing McGinn and petitioning to put pressure on the SPD Chief of Police to enforce stricter penalties for cops. Did it even say anything about this guy being disciplined? NO, sure didn't. Maybe it needs to. I vote for 1st offense- FIRED!! This guy is clearly on one and a total dirtbag! What a jerk, I hope you get canned. Tired of paying for your mistakes SPD.
 @stopseattlepolice:Â
McGinmn, SPD & SPOG have absolutely nothing to do with this - he ois a King County Sheriff's Deputy, so it is THEY who are responsible. Sue Rahr tried to keep it all under wraps & cover for him. Hopefully the new sherriff, John Urquart, will actually DO something about this guy & get rid of him for the liability to the taxpayers that he is.
By the way, here is a link to a cool Facebook page I found the other night to raise awareness and concern for our tax dollars and stop Seattle police. The page looks like it's just getting going so I'm sure some new friends would help. It's just about spreading the word and creating so much frustration in the community that the Chief of Police, Mayor and City Council will be FORCED to make changes and start enforcing stiffer penalties/firing police that violate and abuse our citizens.
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http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100004998339359
 @Stopseattlepolice Here's my favorite. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-to-survivors-of-child-sexual-assault-by-law-enforcement-officers/180584842010594?sk=wall
@Stopseattlepolice LOL, did you notice that idiot couldn't even do simple math and wanted to spend the money on parks. They should spend the money on education as he needs it.
As soon as I saw that name it was "oh no, not again". What the heck does it take to get fired? This sort of stuff really gets the people upset at government employees and government employee unions, with justification. I'll bet you are laughing your butt off at us, aren't you tough guy Paul?
remind me again why taxpayer's wallets are still being emptied by matt paul $12,000,000.00 later? this guy needs to go.
This one guy is costing tax payers a lot of money.Â
 @Citizen#3457899654 Definitely. I'm so tired of it. This guy definitely needs to go- is he fired yet?
is he a UFC reject or something?  put him inside the octagon.  let him taste some real beating from real tough guys. who knows? he might soften up afterwards.
They have to make this cop to cough up the money to pay the victims as well !
good ol' rich o'neil will explain it all i'm sure.....
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this cop is a POS just hoping for his next chance to hurt someone - usually smaller than him. coward punk cop.
 @swampthing:Â
Might want to get the correct agency & union before commenting - it is King County Sheriffs & THEIR union - not SPD.
@SwampThing Rich O'Neil is the spokesman for the Seattle Police Officer's Guild (SPOG) and is not affiliated in any way with the King County Sheriff's Office.
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I DO agree that this Deputy is a POS and should not be carrying a gun and badge.
Wow this cop is busy spending tax payers money. I hope he has to pay back most or all of this out of his own pocket.
This fat cop has cost taxpayers well over $10 millions. Is he fired yet?
Just like the Tuba man killers, this cop will be on the news again. And not in a good way.
Why is this guy still collecting a paycheck from the county? WHY? Taxpayers getting reamed by Paul already costing us over 10 point one million dollars. Do you think we're getting our money's worth with this guy?
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I would like to suggest that Sheriff John take a closer look at this deputy's history. In the private sector if he had cost his employer this much money, he would be handed a pink slip. Deputy paul has also undermined the KCSO's credibility with the public and his actions make it hard for good deputies to do their job.
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 @Harrison Didn't he get fired and go to work somewhere else? I didn't see either way in the story.
@Harrison  I agree with you but need to point out that the KCPOG (King County Police Officers Guild) will do thier best to defend him. We need to BAN Police Unions entirely since they are obviously detrimental to everyone but cops.Â
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 @scared_citizen Police Unions sound pretty crooked to me! Do away with the Union and hold each and every officer accountable for their own darn actions. They need to face the same penalties that normal people would at their own jobs- i.e. getting FIRED for beating up someone plus an assault charge, or similar devastating penalties. But this "allowing them to just skate by because they are cops" NON-SENSE needs to stop. Everyone knows it's all a corrupt and bs system.
@scared_citizen Yes, the idiot sheep actually care about the details and will keep in mind the best interest of the officer. Oh wait, that's the reason they need a union.