Video: Man stopped by Seattle cops so worried he calls 911
http://www.seattlepi.com/local/komo/art … 428616.phpA local man called the cops on Seattle officers when he felt a traffic stop was spinning out of control - and the entire incident was captured on a police video that shows the man being yanked from his car and thrown to the ground.
Now the man's lawyer wants Seattle Police Chief John Diaz to step down because, he says, the problems just keep piling up.
The video shows Seattle police pulling a car over for speeding, then one officer walking up to the driver who was pulled over.
Although the dashboard camera captured the incident, the officer did not wear his microphone - a violation of department policy.
Once stopped, the driver, Amanuel Gebreselassie, says the talk went bad from the beginning.
"He's using profanity. He's not acting professional. He's just not acting like an officer," says Gebreselassie.
In their report, police said the driver was "extremely verbally aggressive." But Gebreselassie denies it - and says the stop seemed so out of line, he called 911.
An audiotape of the 911 call recorded the conversation between Gebreselassie and the 911 dispatcher.
"911. What are you reporting?" the dispatcher says.
"Uhh, an illegal stop by an officer - you know, I just want to make sure he's a real officer. ... There's an officer here, but he's talking crazy to me, and I'm not really dealing with this guy."
The conversation was cut short when a group of officers returned to the car.
"Get out of the car," one officer can be heard saying on the 911 tape.
"For what?"
"Get out of the car, man."
Police say Gebresellassie resisted, so they yanked him to the ground.
In the video, one officer appears to deliver a sharp kick - but it's unclear where it lands.
Gebreselassie's attorney, James Egan, says, "I'm not sure what lessons are ever learned when the police department can't police its own."
Two of the officers were already under investigation for another incident when this stop was committed. Egan is representing the drivers in both instances.
"I'm asking for the chief's resignation here because I think he's either incapable or unwilling of identifying dirty laundry and dealing with it properly - so it doesn't happen again," says Egan.
After the arrest police found marijuana in the trunk of the car - but the case was dropped because the search was illegal.
An internal affairs investigation later reprimanded three of the officers for the illegal search and profanity - but determined their use of force was appropriate.
"I felt like he was trying to provoke me, basically," says Gebreselassie.
