SEATTLE — A Seattle police officer suspended after he was caught on camera shoving a citizen has been accused of being violent before.
Cellphone video showed Officer Clayton Powell during the confrontation that occurred while he was on duty Thursday.
Video posted to YouTube, which the Seattle Police Department confirmed showed the incident in question, showed an officer and another man arguing in the street. The officer can be seen shoving the man at least three times.
WARNING: Profanity may be contained in the video (there is a lot of yelling, and it's hard to tell what's being said).
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUymbCLUFcM ]
Pierce County court documents uncovered by KIRO 7 Eyewitness News show Powell's ex-wife filed a restraining order against him, accusing of him having anger issues.
The documents are part of what appears to be a nasty divorce between Powell and his former wife, Washington State Patrol Trooper Monica Hunter.
In the documents, Hunter accuses Powell of having “a problem controlling his anger” and asked a judge to protect her and their son.
She was granted a restraining order.
In 2002, Hunter accused him of stalking her and being unable to deal with his anger. In court documents, she recounted two instances of road rage, including one where Powell was cut off, gave chase and confronted the driver.
The couple’s young son was with them during the incident and told his mother he was afraid, the documents said.
Hunter also told a judge she complained to Seattle Police Internal Affairs after Powell took their son to work and left him there alone for four hours. At the time of the incident, the boy was 6 or 7 years old.
KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Deborah Horne filed a public disclosure request with Seattle police to find out more about the internal investigation.
Meanwhile, Powell was placed on paid administrative leave while an investigation into the allegations of excessive force is under way.