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Man kicks officers in head after hit-and-run

The Seattle Post Intelligencer

SEATTLE — A man apparently kicked a Seattle police officer in the face and another in the throat Saturday as they were investigating a Capitol Hill hit-and-run case, in which the suspect became stuck in the snow.

The officers had responded around 2:10 a.m. to the intersection of East Mercer Street and Summit Avenue East, Seattle police spokesman Jeff Kappel reported.

The officers believe the 35-year-old man, a Seattle resident, sideswiped a taxi after he ran a stop sign in his Toyota Celica at Summit. The taxi driver was not injured, Kappel said.

The driver and another man in the Celica were not hurt. After hitting the taxi, the man drove east on Mercer when his car became stuck in the snow about a few blocks away.

Officers arrived and started conducting sobriety tests on the driver, Kappel said.

Police said he became “hostile” and apparently tried to escape by kicking the officers as they were placing him in the back of a patrol car.

The man has been booked into the King County Jail on suspicion of two counts of assaulting an officer. Police also are seeking charges of driving under the influence and hit and run, Kappel said.

Seattle fire medics treated the officers, who returned to duty. The passenger in the Celica was released.

Copyright 2008 Seattle Post Intelligencer