Seattle Police Department Patrol Officer Eric Faust has been suspended for excessive force and unnecessarily escalating a confrontation in the October 2012 arrest of Leo Etherly.

Etherly had been suspected of hit-and-run driving with a cyclist at 29th and Jefferson and was reportedly being uncooperative as police attempted to detain him. A dashboard camera taped the incident and the video was released to the public, leading to a vocal outcry. Etherly later died of a suspected drug overdose.

The Seattle Times reports that Officer Faust has been suspended without pay; he is appealing his suspension.

Interim Seattle police Chief Jim Pugel has handed an eight-day suspension to a patrol officer, finding the officer used excessive force and unnecessarily escalated a confrontation with a man suspected of hit-and-run driving, according to newly released records.

The discipline, imposed on Officer Eric Faust, addressed the type of broad issues raised by the Department of Justice when it found in 2011 that the Police Department had engaged in a pattern or practice of constitutional violations regarding use of force. The finding led to a landmark settlement last year in which the department agreed to make broad reforms.

Pugel’s findings, outlined in a June 7 disciplinary-action report, were disclosed Tuesday in documents released to The Seattle Times under a public-records request. One day of Faust’s suspension was held in abeyance for two years if he doesn’t have the same or similar misconduct.

Faust, 37, who joined the department in 2006, is appealing the suspension without pay.

The rest of the report is available on the Seattle Times website.

New graffiti appeared on the side of the Neighbor Lady building, on August 30, on the wall that faces Med Mix. The graffiti is in the same spot where the “4 Pratt + Trayv” was painted on the night Med Mix was set on fire by an arsonist, still at large.

Ian Eisenberg, owner of both the Med Mix building and the Neighbor Lady, says he has since painted over the graffiti. The paint read “Don’t test me,” “Stop erasing my poetry,” and “Boo, forever.”

Surveillance cameras caught two people on video as they wrote on the wall. Eisenberg says maybe the perpetrators were taking advantage of power being out since the arson, which left the area dark — and would logically mean the surveillance cameras were down, too. The cameras, however, were still operating. The following still shots were pulled from the videos:

A full video of the incident is available here.

If you have information relating to this incident, please call Seattle Police Department’s non-emergency line at (206) 625-5011.

“3 car roll over at MLK and S. Jackson in front of @SeattleFire Station 6” Image via @timdurkan

Seattle Fire rescued two people trapped in a car and transported three patients to the hospital following a rollover crash at MLK and Jackson Wednesday afternoon.

Details are still coming in on the collision first reported just after 2 PM.

Seattle Fire reports that it transported a 93-year-old male driver in stable condition and a male and female in their 30s both in stable condition following the crash.

Traffic in the area was diverted during the response.

Animal control was called to care for an uninjured dog from one of the vehicles.

If you value this coverage and want to support the continued independence of Central District News, please subscribe today for as little as $5/month — DRIVE ENDS SEPTEMBER 30.

Community groups that had staged a grassroots takeover of a temporarily mothballed Central District school building have moved aside allowing the school district to move ahead with millions of dollars in planned renovations and opening up the path to a $14.2 million renovation and re-opening of a public middle school on Capitol Hill, officials say.

Despite recent uncertainty about the future of the Horace Mann building and community groups that call it home, the Nova Alternative High School is on track open in the E Cherry Mann building next year, Seattle Public Schools says. That move puts Meany campus near Miller Community Center at 19th and Thomas, which currently houses Nova, on track to reopen as a Capitol Hill middle school in 2017. Continue reading →

LOCAL CANDIDATES TO SQUARE OFF IN SOCIAL JUSTICE DEBATE
Seattle Human Services Coalition Hosts Candidate’s Forum

The Seattle Human Services Coalition will host its 13^th Biennial Candidate’s Forum on September 17^th from 5:30pm-8:00pm at the Garfield Community Center, located at 2323 E. Cherry St., Seattle, WA 98122.  Invitees include candidates for Seattle Mayor, Seattle City Council, King County Executive, King County Council Position 1, King County Sheriff, and Seattle City Attorney. The event is free and open to the public, with voter registration on site and light refreshments. Sign language, language interpretation and child care services are available upon request with RSVP. Attendees should RSVP by September 13^th to [email protected] or call 206.325.7105.

Since 1989, the Seattle Human Services Coalition (SHSC) has provided an opportunity for candidates and voters to connect on important human services issues in Seattle and King County.  “Being able to meet one’s basic human needs is a fundamental human right.  Public policy that acts on this understanding is basic to social justice,” explained SHSC Co-Chair Patricia Hayden. For more information about SHSC and to view the candidate’s responses to SHSC’s pre-primary Candidate Questionnaire please visit http://shscoalition.org/2013electmenu.php.

This year’s forum will be moderated by Professor David Domke, Chair of the Department of Communications at the University of Washington. Sponsors of the forum include Alliance of People with disAbilities, Child Care Resources, Church Council of Greater Seattle, Lifelong AIDS Alliance, Lighthouse for the Blind, Non-Profit Anti-Racist Coalition, One America, Real Change, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, Senior Services, SOAR/Youth Development, Tenant’s Union of Washington State  and Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and
YWCA of Seattle|King|Snohomish.

The Seattle Human Services Coalition is a multi-racial, multi-cultural, group of human service providers and individuals committed to helping Seattle and King County residents meet their basic human needs. The Coalition works to shape public policy on issues such as ending homelessness, hunger relief, domestic violence prevention, quality affordable child care, healthcare, racial equity, youth development, violence prevention and more.

As a nonprofit organization, Seattle Human Services Coalition does not make endorsements or recommendations or show any preference toward any candidate. This effort constitutes nonpartisan voter education allowed under state and federal law.