Reading the police report, one would believe that 20-year-old Isaac Ocak was so out-of-control, that we’re lucky four cops were around to take him off the street, even if one of them ended up bleeding profusely from the altercation.
But viewing the dash cam video, it becomes clear that Seattle police went completely overboard in arresting him – not that they even had the grounds to do so in the first place – choking him, punching him and smothering his face with their hands.
All while telling him to “relax” and to “stop resisting.”
You know, the usual police protocol.
The video is two years old but just came to light thanks to Seattle attorney James Egan who is renowned for holding Seattle police accountable through videos.
Egan posted it on his Youtube channel today and the Seattle Weekly picked it up.
Because of the video, Seattle police were forced to call a press conference this afternoon, telling the media that use of force was justified.
They claim that Ocak was punched because he bit officer Larry Longley’s finger. It is not clear from the video if he did bite his finger, but it is clear that Longley used his gloved hand to smother Ocak’s face, pulling his head back aggressively.
The video is 42 minutes long, but the action begins around the 6:15 mark when Ocak lifts his hands off the police car after police had ordered him to leave his hands there.
But it is obvious he did not lift his hands in an aggressive manner but in an open-handed gesture to call his girlfriend whose car he was driving, so he could confirm to police he had not stolen her car.
Besides, police confirmed in their report that they had already determined the car was not stolen.
They just had an issue with him because he had too many keys on his key chain, which evidently is enough to give police reasonable suspicion that he may have committed a crime.
Police had detained him because he pulled in front of a store in the car, leaving it running as he ran inside. Not the smartest cookie but still not breaking the law.
Longley claimed that the bite left him bleeding profusely but a photo shows Ocak was also left bleeding.
