Auburn witness describes encounter with man before officer repeatedly punched him

A witness who encountered a shirtless man running through traffic on Auburn Way shortly before an Auburn police officer punched him repeatedly during an arrest says she initially thought the man was experiencing a mental health crisis.

The woman, Teresa, said she stopped her car Wednesday afternoon because the man was running in and out of traffic and she didn’t want to hit him.

“He was in the middle turn lane, just running, running down the street, and he was in and out of the northbound lane,” she recalled.

The man approached her vehicle, put his hands on the hood and tried to open the driver’s door, which was locked. She said she wasn’t afraid of him but watched as he eventually stepped onto the sidewalk.

“He came up to me… and he put his hands on the hood of my car and walked around. I was on the outside lane, so closest to the sidewalk, and he walked around my car, and he tried to open the door to get in. My doors were locked,” Teresa explained. “I just thought here’s a guy who’s having a mental, a mental moment, right? Like he’s just in a mental crisis.”

She slowly drove away, keeping an eye on him in her rearview mirror. She didn’t think about the encounter again until she learned about the arrest later.

Video released by the Auburn Police Department appears to show the officer straddling the man in the roadway while trying to handcuff him, then repeatedly punching him in the head and face. A review of the footage appears to show about 20 punches.

Based on her encounter with the suspect, Teresa questioned why the officer continued striking the man.

“So, now you’re sitting on top of them and you’re hitting him. To what end?” she asked. “Are you waiting to subdue him? Are you waiting to hit him so many times that now you’ve knocked him unconscious?”

She said the response was not the kind of compassion she would want if her own child were experiencing a mental health crisis.

“If my child, if I were having a mental health crisis, this isn’t the compassion that I would like the police officers to have when responding to me,” she said.

Auburn police describe struggle before punches

Auburn police said the man was running in and out of traffic and attempting to get inside passing vehicles when officers responded.

The department said the man refused to comply with the first officer’s commands, prompting the officer to deploy a Taser. That led to a physical struggle, according to police.

It took four officers to gain control of the man and handcuff him, the department said.

Police said the man did not appear to have any serious injuries. The officer was also taken to a hospital.

The 33-year-old man was being investigated for several offenses, including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, obstruction, attempted third-degree assault and possession of a controlled substance. Those were potential offenses under investigation, not necessarily formal charges filed by prosecutors.

Teresa questioned why the man was facing potential charges for conduct after officers arrived, rather than the behavior she described witnessing beforehand.

“When you look at what he was arrested for, he was arrested for everything that took place after the police officer showed up on the scene, but nothing before,” she said.

The only charge that would have come from alleged actions before the arrest would be disorderly conduct, which is generally a misdemeanor.

Former King County sheriff recalls similar call with deadly results

Former King County Sheriff John Urquhart, who has watched the Auburn police body cam video, told the Gee and Ursula Show the footage reminded him of a deadly encounter with a suspect in Newcastle on June 22, 2002.

46-year-old Deputy Richard Herzog was killed in the line of duty after being dispatched to a call about a man in a street, trying to get inside cars, and “acting crazy”.

“The officer got there by himself, before tasers, got into a struggle with the suspect, who took him to the ground, got his gun out of his holster, out of the deputy’s holster, and shot him 11 times.” Urquhart said. “That’s how dangerous this a call like this can be.”

The suspect, identified as Ronald Keith Matthews, had been released from a Washington state prison just 11 days earlier after serving time for assaulting a police officer. The 43-year-old had a history of felony convictions, including assault, weapons violations, and drug possession. He was arrested about 45 minutes later, convicted of aggravated first‑degree murder, and sentenced to life without parole.

Auburn police have faced scrutiny over past shootings

The investigation comes amid a history of high-profile use-of-force cases involving Auburn police officers.

Former Auburn officer Jeffrey Nelson was convicted in 2024 of second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the 2019 killing of Jesse Sarey. Nelson was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison in January 2025.

Nelson also shot and killed Isaiah Obet in 2017 after his police dog bit Obet. The city later agreed to pay Obet’s family $1.25 million to settle a civil rights lawsuit.

Auburn police are now investigating whether the officer’s actions complied with department policy, while Renton police have launched an independent criminal investigation into the officer.

The City of Auburn’s Police Advisory Committee is not investigating the incident after it was placed “on hiatus for the foreseeable future” following their review of Nelson’s murder case.

The officer in this latest incident has been placed on administrative leave.

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