A potentially explosive video was uploaded to YouTube last week showing a Renton Police officer punching an unarmed man multiple times and then threatening him with pepper spray; but according to police, there is much more to the story than shown in the 1:21 video.
The video shows an officer punching a non-compliant suspect until the officer literally breaks his hand before he reaches for his pepper spray as the suspect staggers to his feet and tries to run away.
But according to police, what is not seen is that the suspect allegedly punched the police officer just seconds before the footage begins, all coming at the end of a larger incident and investigation of an assault.
The man, Mardell Michael Schweigert, 41, of Seattle, pleaded not guilty to a charge of third-degree assault on July 9.
According to police reports, the incident began at about 5:21 p.m. June 24 with police being called to an apartment complex in the 1400 block of South Puget Drive for reports of a fight.
A woman living in a first-floor apartment was asleep when she was awakened by the sound of breaking glass. A woman the victim had met in jail began punching her and hitting her with a bottle.
When contacted by police, the woman was extremely intoxicated and was arrested. The victim also reported to police that a man was with her outside the window.
As an officer went to his vehicle to get a camera to take pictures of the scene, a juvenile pointed out a man matching the description of the male suspect hiding in some bushes, who was later identified as Schweigert.
As the officer contacted Schweigert and told him he was a suspect, he tried to leave, saying he did not do anything. The officer told Schweigert he was under arrest and not free to leave. Schweigert resisted the officer’s efforts to handcuff him.
The officer put his knee into Schweigert’s legs twice in an attempt to place him in handcuffs. After the second knee-strike, Schweigert allegedly “quickly turned and punched [the officer] with a closed fist in the left upper cheek,” according to the report.
“And the fight’s on,” said Detective Robert Onishi, department spokesperson. “That’s where the video starts.”
In the video, which is shot on a cell phone and through a window, the officer is seen swinging at Schweigert multiple times.
The officer hits Schweigert three times in the head and face. The third shot drops Schweigert to the ground and he is heard saying “I didn’t do nothing,” as the officer tells him to get on the ground and then tells him to get on his stomach, physically trying to roll an non-compliant suspect over. When Schweigert gets to his side and continues to refuse to get on his stomach as instructed, the officer puts his knee in his back and then strikes him twice again in the head.
As the officer reaches for his walkie-talkie, Schweigert again tries to roll over and get up, insisting again “I didn’t do nothing,” as the officer yells “You are under arrest” at him.
At that point, the officer again strikes him in the head. Schweigert continues to fight, refusing to place his arms behind his back and the officer stands up, reaches for his pepper spray and then sprays Schweigert in the face as he tries to stand up.
Schweigert then staggers to his feet, complaining about his eyes as the officer continues to tell him to “get down on the ground.”
Schweigert then runs away from the officer and is chased by another officer as the video ends.
But what you don’t see in the video, according to police, is that the suspect is not only a suspect in an assault that just happened but punched the officer just before the video begins.
The suspect was eventually arrested and booked into jail for investigation of third-degree malicious mischief and third-degree assault.
Onishi said during the fight, the officer broke his right hand. He has been on leave since the incident and has not yet filed a narrative with the police report. All of the descriptions come from other officers on the scene.
After breaking his hand, Onishi said the officer’s next move to try and subdue the suspect was to go for his pepper spray, which he deploys before Schweigert runs off and is stopped by other officers and taken into custody.
Interestingly, Onishi said because the suspect did not appear to enter the residence, he probably would not have been charged prior to taking a swing at the officer but he now faces felony charges.
Attempts to contact the person who uploaded the video were unsuccessful.