Seattle police facing another use-of-force claim
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SEATTLE -- The Seattle Police Department is getting hit with another legal claim against an officer accused of using excessive force.
Lawyers for the alleged victim filed the claim on Wednesday, marking the first step in a potential lawsuit asking for $500,000 in damages.
The incident, which was caught on tape, involved officer Clayton Powell. A bystander recorded a heated argument between Powell and 18-year-old Ismail Abdella, which ended with Clayton shoving the teen.
Later, inside a South Precinct holding cell, a police surveillance camera shows what appears to be the officer throwing a punch and stopping just short of Abdella's face.
Abdella's lawyer said the video from last August's incident is all the evidence he needs.
"Most officers for the Seattle Police Department are professionals, but in at least this instance officer Powell stepped completely over the line. There have to be consequences for that," said Christopher Carney.
Seattle police will not comment on the pending legal action, but have said in the past that Abdella spit on Powell and baited him into a physical confrontation.
Police that day were responding to a report of a drive-by shooting.
The department has put Powell on non-patrol duty, and Chief John Diaz is waiting for the city attorney to decide whether to file criminal charges against the officer.
The claim also accuses Powell of shoving the handcuffed teen's face into the hood of a patrol car. That confrontation happened almost immediately after the department agreed to reform its use-of-force policies. A federal investigation found Seattle officers routinely used excessive force and showed evidence of biased policing.
Lawyers for the alleged victim filed the claim on Wednesday, marking the first step in a potential lawsuit asking for $500,000 in damages.
The incident, which was caught on tape, involved officer Clayton Powell. A bystander recorded a heated argument between Powell and 18-year-old Ismail Abdella, which ended with Clayton shoving the teen.
Later, inside a South Precinct holding cell, a police surveillance camera shows what appears to be the officer throwing a punch and stopping just short of Abdella's face.
Abdella's lawyer said the video from last August's incident is all the evidence he needs.
"Most officers for the Seattle Police Department are professionals, but in at least this instance officer Powell stepped completely over the line. There have to be consequences for that," said Christopher Carney.
Seattle police will not comment on the pending legal action, but have said in the past that Abdella spit on Powell and baited him into a physical confrontation.
Police that day were responding to a report of a drive-by shooting.
The department has put Powell on non-patrol duty, and Chief John Diaz is waiting for the city attorney to decide whether to file criminal charges against the officer.
The claim also accuses Powell of shoving the handcuffed teen's face into the hood of a patrol car. That confrontation happened almost immediately after the department agreed to reform its use-of-force policies. A federal investigation found Seattle officers routinely used excessive force and showed evidence of biased policing.
Mr Powell is a neighbor of mine and he is a hell of a guy. This punk Abdella shouldn't have tried to spit on him. Â In my opinion Abdella got off light, given what could have happened to him. Â Stop searching for all the rights punks like Abdella are supposed to have when they are out committing crimes.
Wait a second... "throwing a punch and stopping just short of Abdella's face" Since when is two feet away from something considered "just short"?
cop are trouble bad guy listen cop is not cool
Based on news reports and youtube, in my opinion police lie all the time.  Most often the police beat people and get away with it.  This kid was lucky.  Google police brutality and see for yourself Â
good thing we shot down their use of drones idea. SPD is not to be trusted.
Wow, another case of used force, why am I not surprised. I know a friend who got rear ended a police car in Seattle ata stop and the cop gave her a ticket for it. Needles to say she's already sued the department but alas...that's Seattle police nowadays.
"Abdella's lawyer said the video from last August's incident is all the evidence he needs."
Luckily, the rest of us need to see all the evidence before making a judgment on this.
Sad part is that before I even saw this video I pretty much pictured the person and the situation!!!
Do you want to explain what you mean, or are you going to keep everyone guessing?
@traceywo Another little gang banger antagonizing police sitting with his hand out. No I do not agree the cop raising his hand to him but in all honesty if the punk was in school or at work or just being respectful to begin with he would have never been in that cell.
Got it. Just didn't understand what you meant by your first comment. I totally agree with you. I like how they say he stopped just short of the gang banger's face, when he didn't even get that close. True, the cop shouldn't have done that, but if the punk had been taught respect to begin with, this would never have happened to him.
We just need to quit hiring children as police officers. Obviously if they can't take a little heckling from civilians they picked the wrong career. I imagine Powell goes home each night and kicks the dog and slaps the old lady just to release some tension.
Is the "he spit on me" defense one that all cops use to justify their excessive force or unprofessionalism?Â
@Tattooed_Angel: Pushing someone for spitting in your face isn't excessive force, not even unprofessional. Have you ever had someone spit in your face? Now, the cops actions while the street urchin was seated in the holding cell? Unproffessional and immature, for sure.
Apparently the kid spit on the cop. Bad move, yeah you deserve to get shoved. Did it hurt you when he shoved you? Other than probably hurting your street rep, Nope! Did the cop actually hit the kid in the cell? Nope, Where's the use of force violation? Had the punk not been running the streets looking for trouble (my words, no one elses) none of this would have occurred. But wait. it's Officer Powell's fault right?
Clayton Powell is like a ticking time-bomb, much like LAPD's Christopher Dorner was. SPD has a whole stable of these whack jobs amazingly protected by their union and the city that unleashes this mayhem upon it's citizens.
Our entire system to get rid of the bad apples needs reformed. Currently it is next to impossible getting the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission to revoke the Washington police officer certification for bad cops. They always quit minutes before they are terminated which allows them to keep their certification and go to work for another department.
@BuddyHolly "Clayton Powell is like a ticking time-bomb, much like LAPD's Christopher Dorner was."
Seriously? Watch that first step there Buddy...it's a doozy! IF the kid spit on the cop (accused of) he is lucky all he got was pushed off! The intimidation in the cell was out of line, but Powell didn't look to violate the punk in any way.
The rest of law enforcement should show some gratitude to the Seattle Police Department for taking everyone's turn at making a horses ass of themselves. None of the other departments see any heat from the public they are all watching the SPD.
@al_wa Read something other than The Stranger and your perspective will really start expanding.Â
Another gang banger and his ambulance chasing lawyer looking for a big payday. No surprise.
Gotta love criminal dirtbags taking advantage of the legal system.  Get a life and you won't get picked up by patrol officiers, loser.  Just another typical ghetto person looking for a municipal payday for poor behavior and expecting no blowback.  Nice job of the d-bag bloodsucking lawyer, too.  Also looking for a municipal windfall.  Get a life and do some real law work, dipsh*t fat loser. Â
@KennyGambler Comment reads like a rural residing cop who commutes more than 30 miles to patrol a city he has contempt for
This is sadly what the voters asked for, over and over again.
We're getting double dipped here aren't we? Hell, triple dipped actually....  First an unqualified black man is hired as a police officer,  solely because of his race. Then he turns out to be nothing but a liability, and the straw that broke the camels back is some black gangbanger punk from da hood who probably should already be serving a life sentence. Instead he'll score a half million, spend it all in 18 months and return to his life of crime......Â
@bagsofdirt Why are people saying that the cop was unqualified? Do you guys have any evidence for this?
There was another story about this a long time ago. It gave more detail that is of course no longer in there. He was only hired because they needed to fill a propper slot, not because he was the best. This is what you get when you pass over the best to hire someone who "looks right".
@Alex Clayton Affirmative action in a nutshell....just hire someone to fill the federally mandated quota for # of minorities hired, even if they are not qualified to do the job. Happens all the time.
I absolutely believe there are situations where the police use excessive force and it should not be tolerated. However, in this instance, the punk spit on the cop - he deserved to be shoved. As far as the office cocking his hand back and threatening to hit the brat - he didn't. The kid should quit his criminal career (and yes, he's 18, but it's his livelihood; the court records are public) and get a job and do something productive with your life.Â
This is an old story. It was another case of someone hired who fit the quota, not who was the best who applied. This is what the tax payers get for the things they asked for. Hosed again.
Yo Ismail!!!!! It's time to grow up and start acting like an adult..Go back to school and get your GED.Learn how to dress yourself right.Make something of your life..Hey Momma,start acting like a parent and teach your kids the right way.
Where muh gibs muh dat bee at?????
I would think even a cop would be smart enough to know that if you let a suspect push your button, then the suspect has technically won! But then again, with big egos that these cops have, can't really expect that kind of logic from them.
@Zoso:Â The kid spit in the cops face; the push was justified.Â
Whatever the little punk said to the officer were just words and should have been igorned by the cop. He should have shut the door and went about his business, instead, he stooped to the level of the street punk. What an idiot.
@jlynnhood See Tattooed Angels's comment above. I think that put it best.
@Zoso Easy to say when you're not in the situation.  I bet you wouldn't just stand there either and get spit on.  It looks like the criminal is the initial aggressor and no physical harm happened.  You don't know what happened in the holding cell either.
Have a nice day in your easy office job, if you're employed that is.
@KennyGambler If an officer can't handle punks like that then they shouldn't be in law enforcement, period. It is part of their job to maintain their cool.
And no, "handling" does not mean intimidating or shoving someone who is handcuffed.Â
@KennyGambler Oh so you're saying that it's okay for a cop to make such a punkish childish response to something to what you just confirmed that no physical harm happened. Sounds like you're the one who's not employed with that kind of IQ.
Surprise surprise, the PD that "lost" over 100,000 dashcam videos and has murdered and crippled many people is at it again. Here come the feds...
Notice no one liked your comment???
@traceywoHuh? What are you going on about and who cares?
@traceywo No one liked his comment? Man, you really must be blind to not see the 2 he got. And you must be seriously hallucinating if you think anyone actually cares about the likes.
@traceywoLooks like someone DID...
@traceywobad eyesight?
@NW-Economist Obviously, no one cares about your comment. That was my point.
If the youth did indeed spit on the officer. It shows he has on Respect for the uniform. Not the person in it. The uniform. It looks to me like upbringing. No respect.The youth is probably lucky to have his teeth.
"Later, inside a South Precinct holding cell, a police surveillance camera shows what appears to be the officer throwing a punch and stopping just short of Abdella's face"
So if the officer didn't hit him, what is the law suit about?
@WhatdidIsay? It says excessive force which is pretty vague but I would imagine it's based on the possibility that the officer was threatening or using intimidation against the kid.
@Hountoof @WhatdidIsay? Police threaten and intimidate people every day of the week. It isn't a crime although maybe it should be.
@Hountoof@Furd@WhatdidIsay?Yes, if an ordinary citizen were to threaten another it certainly could, under certain conditions, be considered unlawful but that is NOT the same as when a police officer is interrogating someone. Police ROUTINELY threaten people with dire consequences if that person does not cooperate and the police are the sole arbiters of whether or not the person is cooperating. The police will threaten you with anything from a fine to the electric chair to get you to talk to them and the courts have NEVER curtailed this activity.
@Furd @Hountoof @WhatdidIsay? It is illegal to threaten someone, in fact, threatening to kill can sometimes be a felony. Also, I'm sure that intimidation can reasonably be considered excessive force.