What’s worse than getting hit by a tractor-trailer while jogging, cracking half a dozen ribs, fracturing your skull, and breaking your back?
Getting mocked by police officers who are supposed to be “helping” you.
That’s what happened to a West Seattle man back on October 24. Tim Nelson was jogging on the West Seattle low bridge when he was struck by a semi. Emergency responders arrived on the scene to take care of him and control traffic flow. But one of the Seattle Police Department’s cars recorded some disturbing audio.
Nelson hired an attorney to pursue a personal injury lawsuit case, and in the course of the lawyer’s investigation, a dashcam video from an SPD vehicle was uncovered. On the tape, officers were heard making fun of Nelson, noting that he was tossed into the air and landed on his head. One officer opines, “That’s why you drive a car!” while the other responds, “Don’t try to jog to work,” and then uses an expletive to describe Nelson. (Later on the video, two officers also appear to mock the accent of the truck driver involved.)
Nelson noted that it was bad enough that SPD officers made light of his situation as he lay near death on the street. But what’s even more upsetting is that Nelson says he was obeying the advice of state Department of Transportation officials, who urged commuters to commute to work on foot, via bike, or on a ferry to avoid traffic congestion on the bridge as part of the ongoing construction closure of the Alaskan Way Viaduct.
SPD isn’t commenting on Nelson’s allegations. Nelson says he isn’t seeking money – only an apology from the officers involved and/or the city of Seattle. But given the bad publicity the police force is receiving from the recent federal investigation into its excessive force practices, the idea that SPD officers treat injured civilians with scorn and ridicule will not help the department’s standing in the community.