Police officer faces criminal probe in brawl outside bar

Seattle police, already under scrutiny over use of force, have opened a criminal investigation into an off-duty officer who stomped on the head of a man who was handcuffed and lying on the ground.

The investigation began after other officers who responded to a December brawl outside a Ballard bar reported the officer's action to a supervisor, the Police Department said Wednesday in response to an inquiry from The Seattle Times.

The department did not name the officer in a statement detailing the incident. But the officer is identified in court papers as Garth Haynes, who joined the department in January 2009.

The incident involving Haynes occurred about 1 a.m. on Dec. 12 outside the BalMar nightclub.

Haynes found a woman outside the club holding the jackets and asked her to return them, according to the documents.

The woman refused, claiming the jackets belonged to a friend. When Haynes identified himself as a police officer and showed his badge, the woman said "anybody can get one of those," according to the documents.

The woman returned the jackets and walked away as Haynes called 911 to report the theft.

Three men followed Haynes and his friend and yelled at them to leave the woman alone, prompting Haynes to identify himself as a police officer and show his badge to them, according to the documents.

The three men are identified in the documents as Jake Keegan Baijot-Clary, 21; Simon Lee Thayer, 27; and Jason Reynold Lamb, 27.

As Haynes and his friend followed the woman, both were attacked from behind by the men.

The first officer to respond to the call did not immediately recognize Haynes as an officer, but he separated Haynes' friend and Lamb and got the latter to sit down, afterwhich he then attempted to stop Baijot-Clary and Thayer from assaulting Haynes.

After the officer pulled away Thayer and focused on restraining Baijot-Clary, Lamb got up and kicked Haynes in the head.

Other officers arrived and Baijot-Clary, Thayer and Lamb were handcuffed, according to the documents.

By that time, the woman had left the scene.

While officers were investigating, Haynes stomped the head of Baijot-Clary.

Officers prevented further contact and immediately reported Haynes' alleged misconduct to their supervisor.

Garth Haynes has been placed in a nonpatrol job while the matter is investigated, police said.

ORIGINAL SOURCE