Tase First, Ask Questions Later

Just after 1:00 a.m., following a late-night game of basketball in
August 2006, Aaron Claxton and his cousin, Leroy Gibbs, now both 22,
drove to Claxton’s house in North Seattle. As they drove through the
backstreets of Claxton’s quiet Lake City neighborhood, a black Chevy
Suburban followed close behind. According to court documents, as
Claxton pulled into his garage, the Suburban sped up and pulled in
front of the house. The two young men ran inside, followed by four men
with guns, court documents say. Moments later, Claxton shook
uncontrollably and fell to the ground as he was repeatedly Tasered.
“Police! Roll over or I will Taser you again!” Claxton heard one of the
men say.

According to police reports, Claxton drew the attention of one of
the Seattle Police Department’s undercover Anti-Crime Teams
(ACT)—undercover units that handle street-level crime—as it
patrolled North Seattle. According to the report, Claxton sped through
the neighborhood and failed to stop at a stop sign. Minutes after
officers allegedly witnessed Claxton’s erratic driving, the young man
found himself on the receiving end of an officer’s Taser. He would also
later be charged with obstruction, as well as cited for speeding and
running a stop sign.

Now, more than a year later, all charges against Claxton—who
is black—have been dropped because, court records say, of a “lack
of proof.” He has filed suit in federal court for false arrest,
malicious prosecution, violation of constitutional rights, and
assault.

This isn’t the first time the SPD has been to court over alleged
misconduct. Ever since a wheelchair-bound man accused two officers of
roughing him up and planting evidence last January, the SPD has been
besieged by very public and frequent accusations of misconduct. The
wrongful arrest of a young photographer, and the multiple Taserings of
Carl Sandidge [“Gil’s Boys,” Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, July 5] are just a
few of the cases—typically involving young black men—that
have captured headlines and the attention of local attorneys,
civil-rights groups, and even the FBI.

Perhaps one of the most widely known cases is that of Maikoiyo
Alley-Barnes, who was beaten by police in front of a Capitol Hill
nightclub in 2005 [“Face Off,” Darrin Burgess, April 21, 2005].
Alley-Barnes filed a lawsuit against the city, and in November the SPD
paid him a settlement of $180,000.

According to data from SPD’s Office of Professional Accountability
(OPA)—which investigates citizen complaints against
officers—there hasn’t been a surge in reports of misconduct.
However, those with grievances may be looking elsewhere for help. James
Bible, president of the Seattle-King County chapter of the NAACP and a
vocal critic of the Seattle Police Department, says his organization
receives complaints about officer misconduct every week, and the number
of complaints it
receives is growing.

“We’re not addressing the culture of the police department,” Bible
says. [The NAACP is] concerned about the OPA and we remain concerned
about the chief and [the police department’s] inability to protect
people’s rights.” A number of the complaints the NAACP receives, Bible
says, are directed at the SPD’s Anti-Crime Teams, plainclothes officers
in unmarked vehicles, which were involved in Sandidge’s Tasering, a
University District jaywalking-turned-beatdown incident, and now
Claxton’s Tasering case. “We think [ACT is] an organization that
focuses on profiling and getting its job done, no matter what.”
However, Bible says, the NAACP
is concerned with how many times
ACT is
actually wrong.

In Claxton’s case, what supposedly began as a traffic infraction
ended with the young man being Tasered by an ACT officer. In court
documents, Claxton claims an officer told him he was stopped because he
lived in a “drug-related neighborhood with drug activity.” During his
arrest, Claxton was offended by the officer’s remark and informed him
that he was a longtime employee of a Seattle Boys & Girls Club,
rather than a drug dealer. Claxton has worked for the King County Boys
& Girls Clubs for the last five years—most recently as an
athletic director—and was recently named employee of the
year.

Despite Claxton’s do-gooder credentials—and lack of criminal
history—he was handcuffed and made to stand in his driveway for
another 20 minutes after he was Tasered. According to Claxton’s court
complaint, when the young man asked officers what was taking so long,
one officer told Claxton they were “trying to figure out what to charge
[him] with.”

If the police report is to be believed, Claxton gave officers plenty
of cause to stop him (although hardly reason to Taser him). The report
claims Claxton was speeding and failed to stop at a stop sign, and that
the two men ignored officers’ orders to “put their hands on the car.”
The police report also notes a “strong odor of marijuana” in Claxton’s
car, but officers were unable to find any drugs on the two men. But
again, all of the charges against Claxton—including the traffic
citations—were tossed for a lack of proof. Still, the SPD stands
by its officers.

SPD does not comment on cases in litigation, but Deputy Chief Clark
Kimerer says he does not believe there is a widespread issue with
misconduct in the department.

Claxton’s case goes to trial in April.

jonah@thestranger.com