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Tacoma’s Domestic-Violence Protocol For Police Tested

By Jeffrey M. Barker, The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

TACOMA, Wash. -- The Police Department here knew when they hired Marco Rahn seven years ago that he had once been suspected of domestic violence.

No charges ever came of the 1989 incident, in which Pierce County sheriff’s deputies listed both him and the woman as suspects.

This week, Rahn was charged with fourth-degree assault of the same woman, his wife, from whom he has been separated for eight months.

Yesterday, Rahn pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor charge.

He was arrested Wednesday morning, after witnesses -- including another Tacoma police officer -- told deputies he grabbed his wife’s throat, then tossed her 6 feet down onto a neighbor’s driveway. He had gone to her home to confront her about not taking his phone calls, according to charging documents.

The incident set in motion the first test of the Tacoma Police Department’s new protocol on how to deal with officer-involved domestic violence cases. The protocol was created in the aftermath of last year’s tragedy, in which police chief David Brame fatally shot his estranged wife, then killed himself.

Rahn said nothing yesterday, walking with a limp past reporters.

Judge Pro Tem Michael Clark ordered Rahn to have no contact with his wife or her family, and to not possess any guns. He released Rahn on the $1,000 cash bail he had posted Wednesday.

Tacoma police had already told Rahn not to contact his wife or her family, said Police Department spokeswoman Tracy Conaway.

But he did anyway, according to prosecuting attorneys. He called her parents.

That claim prompted Clark, upon signing the no-contact order, to warn Rahn: “Given your position, there won’t be any leeway given for any violations whatsoever.”

Rahn also told the court, through his attorney, Richard Williams, that he possessed no other guns besides his Police Department-issued weapon, which Tacoma police had already taken, along with his badge.

Pierce County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Ed Troyer disputed that claim, saying deputies took a personal handgun from Rahn Wednesday morning.

Troyer also said that the Sheriff’s Department provided a copy of the 1989 incident report to Tacoma police before they hired Rahn.

Rahn, who in 1999 was given a written reprimand for harassing a Tacoma woman and in 2002 received a department Medal of Merit, is on paid leave.