From KOIN.com, November 19, 2009
Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman has directed that an officer be placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the use of force used on a 12-year-old girl who was resisting arrest and had struck another officer.
On the morning of Nov. 14, officer Aaron Dauchy and officer Christopher Humphreys responded to a call to assist with a large party that had just broken up involving several known gang members. Both officers learned that a gun had just been recovered in bushes near the party and that 75-100 male and female teens were walking in the area of 162nd and Northeast Halsey.
Humphreys, a 10 year veteran, was also involved in the James Chasse case.
Several teens went to a nearby bus stop and were angrily shouting about wanting to fight.
Dauchy and Humphreys arrived at the MAX platform on 162nd and noticed 20-30 teens board a westbound MAX. Dauchy recognized a juvenile female whom he knew to be excluded from MAX.
The officers followed the train to 148th, and went on to the MAX platform. They were the only officers on scene at that point, as other officers were responding to fight calls in the area of 162nd.
As the train pulled in, Dauchy recognized a juvenile male whom he knew to be on the TriMet exclusion list. After handcuffing the male, Dauchy called to the female to also get off the train. As he began to take her into custody, she swung at him, struck him in the face and began actively resisting. Dauchy told her to stop resisting arrest and continued to struggle with her.
After giving repeated warnings to stop resisting or he would shoot a beanbag gun, Humphreys deployed the beanbag gun at the her thigh at close range. She became compliant and the officers began to take her into custody when she began to resist again.
Another officer arrived and the officers were able to handcuff her. Medical personnel were called and advised officers that the girl had a bruise on her thigh, but did not need to be medically transported.
The female juvenile has already appeared in Juvenile Court at a preliminary hearing and a petition has been filed against her for the following: Assaulting a Public Safety Officer; Resist Arrest; and Interfering with Public Transportation. She is not in custody at this time.
The incident was fully documented in police reports and the TriMet video from the MAX platform was downloaded and reviewed by Chief Rosanne Sizer and Police Commissioner Dan Saltzman.
In an effort to be fully transparent and considering the seriousness of the incident, Commissioner Saltzman and Chief Sizer made the decision to release the information and the TriMet video to the community.
The Police Bureau has been in contact with the girl’s mother. In order to protect the due rights of all, there will be no additional information released by the Police Bureau about the incident until the investigation has been completed.