Find Your Valentine
Slog
News & ArtsThursday, July 9, 2009
Crime Seattle Police Arrest Teen In Another Questionable Obstruction Case
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 12:29 PM
City prosecutors have declined to file charges in a obstruction case in which a Seattle teen says her boyfriend was roughed up and arrested by police during a chaotic incident Tuesday night in Downtown Seattle.
Anelise Schruder and her boyfriend, Del Anthony Rhea, had just come from a dodgeball game on Capitol Hill on Tuesday night, and were waiting to catch a bus at 3rd and Pike.
While Schruder and Rhea—both 18-years-old—were waiting to catch the 106 to Skyway, another bus pulled up and a 17-year-old boy got on without paying the fare. A police report says the bus driver started honking to draw the attention of a nearby SPD patrol car.
According to the report, Officer Felix Reyes got on the bus and contacted the driver, who pointed out the teen hadn't paid his fare. In his report, Reyes wrote that he saw the teen grab a bus transfer from another passenger and move towards the back of the bus. The 17-year-old then jumped out an emergency exit window where police were waiting for him.
Schruder—who volunteers at the Seattle Young People's Project—says a group of about 15 people gathered at the bus stop—along with more than a dozen officers—and watched the police put the 17-year-old in handcuffs. Then, Schruder says, officers began hitting the handcuffed teen in the head. “They were just slamming him and being really aggressive,” she says. “Everyone was just like ‘what the hell?’”
Schruder says an officer approached the crowd and asked, “Do any of you guys have a problem with this?” That’s when Schruder’s boyfriend piped up, telling the officer that he did have a problem with their treatment of the teen.
At the time, Schruder says the officer was standing three or four feet away from her boyfriend, but the officer quickly approached Rhea, hit him in the head and took him to the ground. Schruder says one officer grabbed her and held her while three other cops jumped on top of her boyfriend. “You see what just happened to him?” Schruder claims the officer told the crowd. “The same thing can happen to you if you don’t [leave].” Rhea was arrested and booked into the King County Jail for obstruction. Schruder says she also witnessed police grab another bystander and “slam” them up against the wall of nearby Walgreens.
In his report, Officers Reyes claims Rhea was standing 10 feet away yelling profanities at officers as they took the 17-year-old into custody, telling them they had “no reason” to handcuff the teen. Officer Reyes approached Rhea, the report says, and told him to move away. "I haven't paid a bus fare before, what's the big deal?” Rhea reportedly told the officer. The report says Officer Reyes feared he was going to be attacked by Rhea and took him in to custody. The report makes no mention of the level of force used against Rhea or the 17-year-old boy.
Despite the officer's claims, prosecutors apparently decided the case didn’t hold water and declined to file charges at a hearing earlier this morning. Schruder says Rhea will be released in the next 4-6 hours.
Schruder says she hasn't heard from Rhea and doesn't know if he was injured during the arrest.
City Prosecutors have not responded to a request for comment on why no charges were filed against Rhea, but this could very well be another example of police officers misusing obstruction charges, which are generally filed against people for interfering with an arrest.
In 2008, the city paid $268,000 plus attorneys fees to a Boys and Girls Club employee following a controversial obstruction arrest. Last year, Office of Professional Accountability civilian auditor Kate Pflaumer also issued a report warning that "management and policy-makers [in the police department] should continue to be aware of issues that may emerge from 'obstruction only' arrests" but noted that "there was no apparent pattern of abuse of discretion" within the department.
Seattle police have not yet responded to a request for comment.
Not ONE person in "a group of about 15 people" had a cell-phone with a camera?
In Seattle?
Outrage is understandable, but as that recent Critical Mass video demonstrated, a picture is worth a thousand words and a video is worth a man's badge.
Seriously, I can't take these stories too seriously since there are so many cases of crying wolf.
6
8
9
10
Here is the Constitutionally-dubious municipal code:
SMC 12A.16.010
Obstructing a public officer.
A. A person is guilty of obstructing a public officer if, with knowledge that the person obstructed is a public officer, he or she:
1. Intentionally and physically interferes with a public officer; or
2. Intentionally hinders or delays a public officer by disobeying an order to stop given by such officer; or
3. Intentionally refuses to cease an activity or behavior that creates a risk of injury to any person when ordered to do so by a public officer; or
4. Intentionally destroys, conceals or alters or attempts to destroy, conceal or alter any material which he or she knows the public officer is attempting to obtain, secure or preserve during an investigation, search or arrest; or
5. Intentionally refuses to leave the scene of an investigation of a crime while an investigation is in progress after being requested to leave by a public officer.
11
13
this is a tough one, because we don't know how much this guy was interfering or how much force was used in the take-down.
i do not automatically back the police, but this story does not - at this point - have enough testimony one way or the other that is terribly credible. i can easily see both sides being true.
in the future, take pictures. you can yell if you like, but take pictures. (maybe don't yell too much, though.)
14
16
A person is guilty of obstructing a law enforcement officer if the person willfully hinders, delays, or obstructs any law enforcement officer in the discharge of his or her official powers or duties.
In other words, anything you do that the cop doesn't like is a gross misdemeanor.
One would almost think from reading that statute that one didn't have any civil rights. Refuse to let an officer search you? That's a delay. Refuse to answer questions? Hindrance for sure.
Because of the vagueness inherent in the statute, it's left to the courts to figure out what is and isn't obstructive behavior, and the only time that ever happens is when some unfortunate plebe (e.g., me) has to pony up thousands of dollars to fight an obstruction charge in court. (I paid $3,500.00 to defend myself, only to have the city drop my case the day that the first contested hearing was supposed to commence.)
My own amateur opinion is that the state obstruction statute is unconstitutionally vague, in that a reasonable person has no way of knowing what kind of behavior is or is not lawful under the statute. At some point, one of these questionable cases will finally go before a judge, and hopefully we'll see this statute struck down and replaced with something more carefully drawn.
17
No, it's not a tough one. The standard of "probable cause" demands that the officer justify the arrest. If there's not enough information to determine probable cause, then it's false arrest.
And believe me, officers never miss a chance to level an accusation. If it's not in the report, it's 'cause it didn't happen.
18
Oh, but SPD's really struggling because of low funding. Right. That's it. Their priorities are absolutely perfect.
20
21
While they use this many cops for this, murderers and rapists driving in Tim Eyman's car go free.
22
Seattle police have not yet responded to a request for comment.
Yeah, good luck with that.
23
it really depends on what exactly the guy was doing. if he was "too close" and yelling - perhaps inciting - then there might be probable cause to suspect he was obstructing the officer's work. the way i see it, was the guy responding in a reasonable way to the situation, or was he unjustifiably aggravating it? giving the current testimony available, if i could see how an officer would likely think the situation was made more difficult to control because of unreasonable behavior, then i would have to agree there was probable cause. i could also see how there may not have been probable cause - there are two sides to this story. without more information, i cannot say either side was definitely right or wrong, or even likely right or wrong.
the requirement for probable cause is less than the requirement necessary for a conviction, and thus, charges are not always filed (though there could be many other good and bad reasons for not filing charges).
what happened was not at all like taking a photograph, or talking with a police officer later. this may in no way mirror your personal experiences with the police, or it could be very similar. i don't know much about your case either. but in both cases, the accused seemed to exhibit unnecessarily questionable behavior. these cops had actual business here, even if you don't like that they were enforcing an actual law. yelling was really not necessary, just as hitting a guy with a foam golf ball is not necessary.
26
first off, i can image cases where yelling crosses from "protest" to "obstruction" (as i'm fairly certain you can as well). secondly, we do not know that yelling was the only action here. proximity would obviously account, as well as incitement and threatening or interfering gestures.
pretending all yelling is merely "protest" is dishonest. i hate to be forced into defending the police actions here, but you've posted twice know with blatantly wrong information. i believe many cops abuse their power and position as well, but to be credible, you have to weigh the testimony to determine which cases exemplify this. for example, the boys and girls club employee case seemed to demonstrate an abuse. the case with the guy slammed into the cinerama seems to demonstrate an abuse.
this case is certainly questionable, but i have to weigh both sides. and i do believe that 18 year old boys sometimes mouth-off or unnecessarily interfere with police work, just as i do believe police sometimes overreact to those who would question their behavior. the police officer's testimony seems credible, and, to be honest, the other witness account is way to clean to seem entirely accurate. not always is the truth somewhere in the middle, but i get the feeling that it is in this case, or that the officer was correct. perhaps he didn't have to arrest the guy, but i think there may have been probable cause for him to do so. i also think there may not have been probable cause. i just cannot say for certain either way because of the witness accounts, the law, and my past experiences.
27
with 15 witnesses in seattle, if the police did something obviously wrong i would be shocked if none of the other witnesses corroborated the testimony here.
the police can arrest a non-paying metro rider if they want to.
i believe the police may have used unnecessary force after the arrest of the 17 year-old metro rider.
i do not believe one police officer faced the crowd, pacing as if if a warden in a bad movie, asking the crowd if anyone has a problem with the way he treated the 17 year-old suspect.
i believe the 18 year old was standing too-close to the officer (a few feet), using profanities, and likely making the officer uncomfortable. this may have incited other members of the crowd (the girlfriend?) and perhaps the recently arrested suspect.
i believe the office may have honest believed the 18 year-old was making his arrest more difficult, hence, obstructing his actions.
i do not believe a reasonable person (sans additional testimony) would find the officer actually feared for his safety.
what does that leave me with? if the officer actually believed the 18 year-old make the situation more difficult to contain, then i do believe there was probably cause for an arrest on obstruction charges. i do not think the officer should have arrested him (sans additional testimony) and i am not surprised charges were not filed.
i would like follow-up, but this is not really the case i want to use to push for more police accountability. not yet, at least. there are far better examples.
Fuck The Police
bunch of punk ass bitches that arrest teens and abuse their rights. last time a cop seen he tried to abuse my rights by serching me for weed for no reason at all i didnt even have hahaha any but thats besides the fact.
oh and if there are any cops are on here
fuck you pig and go eat some doughnuts
from your best friend oinky McOink
The more respectful you are, the less it hurts getting into the back of their car.
As for the officer using extreme force.....the kid jumped out of the emergency exit window, and tried to flee from the police. He deserved it, and I wish I could've been there to point and laugh at him.
This is why people like me love watching the show cops....and love Reno:911! even more.
Stupid criminals are funny.
Lets see if their views change next time they are up and close to someone or two who wants to cut your throat all because you have a badge with toatl disregard that they are human beings as well. Please don't forget there are alot of bad cats out there...... and Uhm they outnumber the police.
A word to RHea kid, next time mind your own business, or at least stand by a good distance away, dont interfere and keep your mouth shut.
Oh by the way, did you know that the other guy had a rap sheet a mile long and hangs out at 3 and Pine drinking and harassing young girls. HMMMM things that make you go HMMMM
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Liveblogging the Washington State House Debate and Vote
onIN FAVOR OF GAY MARRIAGE by Eli Sanders -
SL Letter of the Day: Life Sentence by Dan Savage
-
Required Listening: Howard Stern on Ellen, JC Penney, Bullied Gay Kids, Rosie, Santorum, Bachmann, et al by Dan Savage
-
It's Not Over Until We Say It's Over by Dan Savage
-
Jeff Bezos' Racist, Pro-Life, Anti-Evolution, Rape-Apologist Search Engine by Goldy
-
Yesterday's Best Arguments Against Gay Marriage by Eli Sanders
-
SL Letter of the Day: Tower of Label by Dan Savage
-
Which Kind of Bus Person Are You? by Megan Seling
-
Santorum Wins Colorado by Paul Constant
-
"Let me be the first one to say: My business will refuse to participate in a same-sex marriage ceremony," by Republican Representative Matt Shea of the Spokane Valley by Eli Sanders
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (31) RSS