OPA: Cop violated policy by Tasering detainee who wouldn't sit down
SPD training states officers should not use Tasers for "verbal defiance," "belligerence" and "passively resisting."
Officer Alex Maldonado went against training and policy when he used a Taser against an unarmed man who defied orders to sit down during a traffic stop last year, according to Office of Police Accountability documents obtained by DivestSPD.
In August 2023, Maldonado and other officers responded to a call about a man who had stolen items from a Walgreens in West Seattle and punched a cashier in the hip. Maldonado and two other officers detained a man who matched the description a few blocks from the store. He was carrying a pair of shoes by the laces.
Maldonado ordered the man to sit on the hood of his patrol vehicle and then on the ground. Both times, the man quietly refused by shaking his head. Maldonado then took out his Taser and repeated the order.
The man remained standing, and Maldonado sparked the Taser and warned the man that if he did not comply, it would be “uncomfortable.” The officer told him to “get on the ground,” and when he shook his head again, Maldonado said, “Ok, cool,” and fired his Taser. The man fell back, and the other two officers moved in to arrest him.
After reviewing Maldonado’s bodyworn video, Administrative Lieutenant Seth Dietrich flagged Taser use as a policy violation.
Dietrich forwarded it to the department’s Taser training coordinator, who said, “At this time, I am in full agreement with your conclusion. I did not observe any actions or threats of violence from the subject he was talking with. I do not believe the Taser deployment was within our department’s policy.”
In his OPA interview, Maldonado defended his actions by claiming that he believed the man was preparing for a fight and that a Taser was his least risky option. He claimed that he observed “pre-attack indicators,” including a “bladed stance”—a term that describes a fighting stance where one foot is in front of the other.
However, stills from the bodyworn video show the man’s feet remained consistently parallel with each other throughout the encounter:
In past cases, officers have used similar arguments about “pre-attack indicators” as an after-the-fact justification for excessive force. The administrative lieutenant, Taser trainer, and OPA found this rationale unconvincing.
The Taser coordinator pointed to a training presentation slide that read, “Do NOT use a TASER energy weapon for verbal defiance, belligerence, punishment, horseplay.” SPD policy states that Tasers should only be used if there is an immediate risk of flight or harm or if using hands-on tactics poses a likely risk of injury to officers or subjects.
While the public-facing report has not been posted to the OPA site, the city’s open data portal shows that Maldonado received a written reprimand for the incident.