Seattle Police Officer Will Not Be Charged For Punching Woman During Arrest

A Seattle police officer will not be facing charges after he punched a 23-year-old woman during her arrest in June of this year.

According to Reuters, Seattle police officer Adley Shepherd was responding to a call about a woman threatening one of her family members on June 22. When Shepherd arrived to the scene of the call, he saw that 23-year-old Miyekko Durden-Bosley was drunk and argumentative.

Prosecutors say that as Shepherd was placing her under arrest, Bosley kicked the Seattle police officer in the head. That’s when he responded by punching her in the face and breaking her eye socket, according to KOMO News.

Washington State Patrol investigated the case and then passed it on to King County prosecutors. In a statement, the prosecutors said they came to the conclusion that the Seattle police officer’s response was not one that could be proven felonious in a court of law.

“Evidence reviewed in the case shows that Officer Shepherd acted professionally and with restraint up to the point where he was kicked in the head by the suspect as she was being placed into the patrol car. Officer Shepherd reacted instantaneously to the kick by the suspect, who was wearing boots, with one punch to the suspect’s head which caused a fracture of an orbital socket.”

The Seattle Police Department has released the footage from the incident, showing the moment when Bosley is seen kicking the officer and he reacts by punching her. Warning: the video does contain strong language.

Shepherd has been on paid administrative leave since the incident occurred. With no forthcoming felony charges, it is uncertain, at this time, if the Seattle Police Department will penalize him any further for his actions.

Detective Ron Smith, the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, issued a statement to the media in regards to the situation.

“The Seattle Police Officers Guild hopes that Officer Shepherd will be returned to full duty as soon as possible, and that SPD will review its Force Investigation Team procedures to review whether the system is working in the best interest of all involved.”

Smith added that the guild believes the police officer’s response was appropriate.

“It is our opinion that had the suspect heeded the officers’ commands, the resulting incident in question would not have occurred.”

This news comes on the heels of incidents in New York City and Ferguson, Missouri. As the Inquisitr previously reported, the grand juries in those cases decided not to indict officers Darren Wilson and Daniel Pantaleo on homicide charges. Both decisions have led to nationwide protests.

[Image via YouTube screencap]