Just a Minute!

When push comes to shove, Sheriff's Department will wise up (5/22/09)

     Ever been at a sporting event where a drunken fan runs onto the field? A chase ensues, and a burly security guard inevitably administers an unnecessarily hard tackle, as if to say: “That’ll teach you to run away.”

     This kind of angry takedown left Christopher Harris in a coma after he ran from King County Sheriff’s deputies in Belltown on May 10. A woman identified Harris as having been involved in a barroom fight, and when deputies who were working security for Metro Transit went after him, Harris ran.

     Turns out Harris wasn’t involved in the disturbance, but his behavior raised suspicion. When deputies caught up to him, one gave Harris a hard forearm shove that sent him stumbling backward seven or eight feet into the tiled wall of the Cinerama Theater. Harris’ head hit the wall and the 29-year-old Edmonds man hasn’t regained consciousness.

     The Sheriff’s Department said a review of the incident – captured on the theater’s security camera – indicates the shove by Deputy Matthew Paul, who reportedly outweighs Harris by more than 100 pounds, doesn’t appear to be criminal.

     Maybe not. But after watching it again and again it’s breathtakingly easy to conclude it wasn’t necessary, either.

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