Sheriff's Office accused of harassing teens

SAMMAMISH

Jackie Ruedi has never been a community activist, but now, she said, she's seen too much to stand by and do nothing.

She and 13 other parents have filed complaints with the King County Sheriff's Office claiming some deputies are using repeated stops - including illegal searches and unnecessary force - to harass local teenagers.

The number of complaints has prompted Sammamish officials to take action. Denny Richards, Sammamish director of administrative services, said a full investigation by Chief Richard Baranzini and the city has been under way since Tuesday.

"I know some of these kids have been in trouble, but that doesn't give an officer the right to stop them without cause," said Richards, a former police chief with 28 years of law-enforcement service.

Baranzini, who oversees the Sammamish police force, said his deputies do not harass or target young people on the Plateau.

"I guarantee if I find my officers doing anything wrong there's going to be some action, but that's not what I'm getting," he said.

Ruedi and other parents say they are buying ads in next week's editions of the Issaquah Press and Sammamish Review, asking for parents who have had similar problems to come forward.

"The kids agree that at times they receive tickets that are well-deserved, sometimes receive tickets that are not deserved and sometimes they slip by and don't get a ticket when they should, but there still is an overwhelming problem with the way they are treated," said Ruedi, who lives just outside the Sammamish city limits.

A reserve police officer in Spokane before moving here, Ruedi said she has sent copies of her complaints to the city, state attorney general, FBI and state Rep. Dino Rossi, and that she has given the names of several deputies to Baranzini.

Baranzini said the Sheriff's Office has a good relationship with most Sammamish teenagers, and has been told that at various community events.

If people perceive more of a police presence now than a year ago, before the city incorporated, Baranzini said, it's because indeed there are more police.

"Maybe it's time some parents need to let their kids grow up and be adults and handle their own situations on their own, and time their mothers stop running interference for them," said Baranzini, referring to the fact that some of the teenagers who have been stopped in recent months are 18 and legally adults.

Pat Lee, King County undersheriff, said he was briefed last week on what he described as "an emerging issue between some Sammamish community members and the Sheriff's office."

He said he was aware of 20 complaints from Ruedi, but not of complaints from other parents. The Sheriff's internal-investigation unit reviewed Ruedi's complaints, and passed them to Sammamish officials.

"This is a matter for the city of Sammamish and its police chief. It's for them to flush out the dissatisfactions and alleged misconduct," he said.

Ruedi said her son was stopped by a deputy in March for cutting a corner when he pulled into the street leading to his home. The first question the officer asked, she said, was if Cory had been drinking or taking drugs and then asked to search his car.

Cory gave him permission and the officer found an unopened can of beer. Cory was not arrested or cited, but he was placed in the deputy's car. Reudi said the deputy then threatened to write him up on something unless he gave the deputy information on other young people as he flashed their photos on a computer monitor.

"This is an example of profiling a certain age group, teenagers, and stopping and attempting to engage in searches without probable cause," she said.

Another time an officer stopped Cory, she said, and threatened to give him a ticket for driving a muddy vehicle, another ticket because the corner of driver's license was torn, and yet another citation because his car registration was not signed. He finally cited Cory for having a damaged muffler.

Alexis Pontikis also claims her sons have been targeted by Sammamish deputies.

Her son Jack Lamb, 19, was stopped three times in one day for a broken latch on his car's hood, she said. And her son Chris Lamb, 17, was questioned while having lunch near a supermarket. Another time he was stopped and searched by a deputy and told he was walking on the wrong side of the road.

"I believe there are too many teens experiencing police harassment and intimidation here," Pontikis said.

Both brothers were detained for an hour over an alleged nonfunctioning tail light, but they weren't cited, she said.

Susie Bohl said she sent her son, Ryan Clark, to a supermarket the night of Nov. 27 last year. On his way home he was stopped for speeding. A deputy told Ryan and a friend riding with him to get out of the car, told them to pull out the front floor mats and asked if they had weapons, bombs or explosives in the car, she said.

Bohl, who works at an Eastside police department, said the deputy and another officer then searched the car and asked Ryan about a small television bolted to the center console.

"A deputy called me at home and I told him it belonged to my son and that it was not stolen, because I bought it," she said.

She argues that her son was not arrested but that searching the car was illegal.

After she complained to Baranzini about the incident, he called back and said the officers denied searching the car, she said.

Another complaint alleges unnecessary force was used in arresting a teenager for consumption of alcohol. Later that night the same officer allegedly used Mace on a young man who had been released by another officer at the scene of a noisy party.

Sammamish contracts with the Sheriff's Office for police services. A police office with a chief, patrol officers and detectives is in the same building as City Hall.

Louis T. Corsaletti's phone message number is 206-515-5626.