Police Brutality Complaint Tossed Out

Thu., March 19, 1998

By Tom Sowa toms@spokesman.com (509) 459-5492

A Spokane County judge has dismissed a Davenport man’s complaint against a police officer he accuses of assaulting him during a traffic stop last year.

Christopher Ostrander, 40, filed the complaint against Spokane police Detective Tim Madsen in December.

Ostrander claimed Madsen used excessive force in pulling him from his van outside an Airway Heights convenience store on Jan. 23, 1997.

District Court Judge Daniel Maggs ruled Wednesday that there isn’t probable cause to support filing criminal charges against Madsen.

After the incident, Ostrander asked county prosecutors to investigate the brutality claim. When they ruled out filing charges, he took the rare step of pressing a citizen complaint - asking a judge to determine whether a crime may have been committed.

If Maggs had found evidence supporting Ostrander’s claims, Spokane County Prosecutor Jim Sweetser still had the final say over whether charges should be filed.

Maggs reviewed reports from Ostrander’s arrest and determined that Madsen and a second officer hadn’t used excessive force.

Madsen pulled Ostrander over because police had seen his van leave a neighborhood in the Spokane Valley they were watching for possible drug traffic.

Ostrander said Madsen was in street clothes and driving an unmarked car at the time of the traffic stop. When told he was under arrest, Ostrander refused to leave his van.

While pulling him out, Madsen gave Ostrander two knee blows to his shoulder. At the time, he thought Ostrander may have had a concealed weapon, Madsen told investigators.

, DataTimes

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