You have the right to have your head slammed on the hood.
Just days after Christmas in 2010, Isaak Ocak was trying to return clothing he'd purchased for his nephew. The store insisted on seeing I.D., so he ran home, picked up his license and returned to the store, this time parking in front of the store and leaving his car running—with the doors locked—thinking he'd only be in the store for a minute.
When he returned to his car, Seattle police Officers Larry Longley and his partner were waiting. They began badgering Ocak about his car, which belonged to his girlfriend, and asking him about his keychain, which contained about a dozen keys. Ocak can be repeatedly heard on the video saying he did not know it was illegal to leave a car running, that he didn't have a coat, thought it would only be a minute in the store and wouldn't do it again.
Police put him against the hood of the car, taking his keys and quizzing him about why he had around a dozen keys. He explained he had keys to his mother's house and several others and that he often helped out by taking care of her house. He asked the officers to call his girlfriend to verify he had permission to be driving the car, becoming increasingly upset that police appeared to be escalating a simple traffic ticket. And that's when the officers turned violent:
Ocak’s attorney James Egan previously said in court papers that his client was arrested for “contempt of cop” – for upsetting police by not being adequately demure and deferential.
“They wanted to teach him a lesson to not speak up to SPD officers as … per SPD custom,” Egan and attorney Cleveland Stockmeyer said in the civil complaint. The attorneys went on to claim police told Ocak he was “not real bright” and a “retard” during the altercation.
Video of the incident shows Longley punching Ocak in the face as other officers force his head onto the hood of a police cruiser. The altercation left Ocak bruised, bloodied and, later, scared. He was also charged with fourth-degree assault.
Watch the video of the arrest (police don't activate the audio until around 1 minute into the video):
All charges against Ocak were eventually dismissed and thanks to the video and audio that police boasted about during the arrest, Ocak received a settlement of $70,000. Although he feels exonerated, the officers are still on the force and Ocak is worried about the next time:
“It's also difficult to see the same four officers still patrolling my neighborhood and not knowing what could happen if one of them ever detains me and they choose to leave video off.”