MEDINA, Wash.
A Medina police officer is accused of raping a woman he pulled over on a routine traffic stop.
The officer is a 30-year-old man and a four-year veteran of the department, according to court documents. We are not naming the officer because he has not yet been charged.
According to the court documents, the rape was the result of a traffic stop by the Medina police officer made last November. He cited the driver, a woman from Renton, for driving with a suspended license.
She told investigators that while she was handcuffed in the back seat of his patrol car, he searched her vehicle and found a bag of marijuana. When he returned he looked back at her repeatedly, she said, telling her she was "attractive and beautiful." Then he "reached over to fix her scarf and put his hand on her," documents stated.
At that point, she said she told him she had taken care of the suspended license charge and asked him not to cite her for the marijuana. He allegedly told her not to "worry," that the "charges would go away," documents said.
According to the documents, the rape happened the very next day. The woman said the officer called her that morning to ask her on a date. She said she agreed but told him she would not have sex on a first date.
When he took her to his home in the Issaquah Highlands, he allegedly ignored her protests -- "took her hands and put them above her head, then raped her." The allegations came to light just last month -- after the victim accused her boyfriend of sexual assault.
Medina's Police Chief Jeff Chen said he took action against the officer as soon as he learned about the Issaquah investigation.
“Upon my realizing what some of the allegations were, I immediately placed the officer, he is a four year officer, on paid administrative leave,” Chen said.
The chief said that means the officer has not been on duty for the last two weeks.
According to the documents, the officer did urge the King County prosecutor to drop the charges against the woman.
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http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2009006340_apwamedinaofficerrape.html
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