Sgt. Nathan Patterson suspended only one day for beating homeless veteran
The Office of Police Accountability suggested a suspension of 10 to 15 days for a baton beatdown in South Seattle caught on camera, but the Chief gave him a lighter punishment.
The Seattle Police Department suspended Nathan Patterson, a sergeant with a history of excessive force complaints and lawsuits, for a violent incident last year, according to a disciplinary report released last week. Patterson was caught on video beating a newly homeless veteran with batons and fists at a bus stop in South Seattle.
The Office of Police Accountability found that Patterson unnecessarily escalated the encounter and used more force than was needed, recommending a suspension of 10 to 15 days and a possible demotion. However, newly minted SPD Chief Shon Barnes gave Patterson a one-day suspension and disciplinary transfer, allowing him to keep his sergeant’s rank.
On May 31, 2024, Sgt. Patterson and Officer Cody Alidon were dispatched to a call about a disturbance at a home on Rainier South. Angry that a junk crew was throwing away his belongings, a man who had been evicted that morning rushed workers with a walking stick and pushed one. He also reportedly threw some lit sticks of incense into the home, but no one was hurt, and no property was damaged.
Alidon and Patterson walked him to a bus shelter where they planned to frisk him. When he was told that he was going into handcuffs, he said he would cooperate, asked them to “please stop being forceful,” and pulled his arms away. After that, Patterson threw the man to the ground, and the two began hitting him. The beating lasted for approximately 80 seconds and was partially captured by a passerby on a bus, according to the OPA investigation.
DivestSPD received the bodyworn video of the incident last week shortly before the OPA released its findings.
Patterson claimed that the man tried to punch him, and Alidon described it as swinging his arms in an “aggressive manner.” The OPA notes that the “entirety of this was not fully visualized on any video.” In other words, the supposed punch the man threw wasn’t captured on the bodycam or third-party video.
This is a theme. Throughout the report, the OPA defers to the officer’s perceptions of events where there isn’t clear video evidence. Later, when describing a portion of the video where the man grabs Patterson’s leg, the OPA notes again that it isn’t “fully visualized” but that both officers believed he was attempting a “single-leg takedown.”
Together, the alleged “punch” and “single-leg takedown” form the entire basis of the officers’ rationale for using overwhelming force against someone who was relatively compliant only seconds before.
Patterson told OPA that he “feared for his life” because “if the subject’s take-down was successful, I would not be able to protect my firearm.” He also said that the man’s supposed “straight punch” and attempted takedown were evidence of “combat training.”
In issuing its findings, the OPA puts a heavy thumb on the scale in favor of the officers. To start with, it describes the man’s offenses as “very serious,” listing them in the footnote as “assault, arson, and trespassing.” The alleged assault was a push with a walking stick, which Alidon characterized as a sideways “riot-baton style” push—a type of force SPD doesn’t even report. In other words, it would be misdemeanor assault at most.
Arson requires significant damage. So does reckless burning. The standard for malicious mischief in the second degree, a class C felony, is $750 in damage. The incense sticks caused no discernible damage, so it would be difficult to make gross misdemeanor malicious mischief in the third degree stick. The officers only had probable cause to arrest him for trespassing, a misdemeanor, when they started hitting him.
Notably, he was declined at the King County Jail, and we could find no record of him being charged for any crime.
The OPA also accepts at face value that the officers believed he was trying to hit them. Whether he “aggressively” swung his arms, as Alidon claimed, or threw a “straight punch,” per Patterson, OPA decided their “perceptions were objectively reasonable, which is the relevant inquiry in evaluating their use of force.”
OPA found all of Alidon’s strikes lawful and Patterson’s initial punches and baton hits to be within policy, but it determined that Patterson failed to “modulate” his force once the man was on his side. He continued hitting him with his baton to “prevent him from pushing himself off the ground and continuing to fight,” a justification OPA called “speculative and illogical.”
The agency used a similar reasoning—failure to “modulate”—when it reprimanded Patterson for punching a protester on the ground eight times.
Both officers were faulted for their failure to de-escalate, but the OPA only sustained allegations against Patterson because he was the senior officer, and Alidon was following his lead. Neither officer communicated much with the man aside from abrupt commands, and they missed opportunities to get him to voluntarily comply. The officers used “crass, forceful language.” For example, Patterson told the man to “sit your ass down,” which he explained as a “military mode” that he thought the man would relate to as a “fellow veteran.”
Since 2013, Patterson has had four sustained complaints and two training referrals. He has been named in six lawsuits, with a total cost exceeding $1 million.