OPA Sustains More Allegations Against Cop Fired for Tweets

Former Officer Andrei Constantin knocked a man unconscious during a 2021 DUI arrest. SPD's oversight body found he violated the department's de-escalation policy.

Former SPD Officer Andrei Constantin “unnecessarily escalated” an encounter with an intoxicated driver and knocked him unconscious during a 2021 arrest, according to the latest findings released by the Office of Police Accountability on Friday. The Seattle Police Department fired Constantin last September for inflammatory Twitter posts made under a pseudonym in which he celebrated violence against protesters and harassed the mother of a murdered activist.

At the time of his dismissal, Constantin was under investigation for a use of force incident that occurred on Oct. 23, 2021. Constantin responded to a single-car collision where a man had struck an electrical pole. Seattle Fire responded and was attending to the man’s injury when Constantin determined that he was under the influence of narcotics.

Throughout the interaction, recorded on Constantin’s body camera, he antagonized the man by being needlessly abrasive and mocking, OPA found. While Constantin was attempting an arrest, the man “appeared to tense up and pull his arm away,” according to the OPA report, and Constantin performed a so-called controlled takedown or C-step technique.

On the way down, the man struck his head on the firefighter’s open medical case and was knocked out.

OPA faulted Constantin for failing to use mandatory de-escalation techniques when feasible. Constantin could’ve eased the situation and slowed things down until backup arrived, OPA argued. Instead, he mocked and antagonized the man with “barbs and unnecessary commentary.”

Although the man was “somewhat rude, distracted, disengaged, or obnoxious,” OPA wrote, he was initially cooperative and remained calm throughout the incident until the very end.

While OPA sustained allegations against Constantin for violating SPD’s de-escalation and professionalism policies, it counterintuitively determined that the takedown was justified.

In explaining its decision about the de-escalation findings, OPA wrote that Constantin’s “decision to go hands-on was not ‘immediately necessary’ to protect anyone or stop any dangerous behavior.”

Yet, OPA ruled that the takedown was ultimately justified to effect the solo arrest of an uncooperative person. OPA concluded that Constantin's takedown method was typically classified as low-level Type I force, but the “inadvertent” blow to the head raised it to Type III.

Constantin had faced multiple disciplinary investigations for similar incidents in the past. Shortly before he was terminated, Constantin was suspended for punching out a window during a stop and failing to report it. Constantin received 14 complaints in his seven-year career, five of which were sustained.

He is currently appealing his termination.