Two Kirkland, WA, police officers followed department policies and procedures when they roughly arrested a fleeing 14-year-old suspect in a YMCA teen center, shoved the center's director, and threatened to use a TASER on another teenager this fall, according to a final report following an investigation of the arrest.
However, one officer's use of profanity during the Sept. 5 arrest at the Kirkland Teen Union Building (KTUB) violated Kirkland Police Department policy, Chief Cherie Harris and City Manager Kurt Triplett said in a joint statement this month. The investigation also found that the second officer failed to correctly assist the first officer during the arrest, when he could have prevented a group from getting too close to his partner, reports the Seattle Times.
The September arrest occurred as police officers responded to several 911 calls involving a group of teens who allegedly trespassed at Juanita High School and were chased off by a school resource officer. The police department said there were multiple 911 calls from the neighborhood reporting vandalism and theft, including a 14-year-old boy who was seen going into the YMCA facility by someone whose package was stolen, the department said.
The 14-year-old who was arrested was charged with third-degree theft of the package, which had contents worth about $20, according to the report.
