A Seattle police officer has been charged with fourth-degree assault arising from an off-duty incident in which he was captured on video stomping on the head of a man who was handcuffed and lying on the ground.

The officer, Garth Haynes, is the second Seattle police officer to be charged with assault this year as the department has come under scrutiny over use of force and its dealings with the public. Haynes faces up to one year in jail and a $5,000 fine if convicted of the gross misdemeanor offense.

Haynes initially was the victim of an attack during an early-morning brawl outside the BalMar nightclub in Ballard on Dec. 12, according to the Police Department.

But as responding officers gained control of the situation, Haynes can be seen on video walking up to the prone, handcuffed man and pushing his foot into his head. One of the officers then pulled Haynes away from the man.

The decision by the City Attorney's Office to charge Haynes comes as the U.S. Justice Department is investigating allegations of excessive force and biased policing by members of the Police Department in the wake of a series of high-profile incidents, including the fatal shooting last year of First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams.

The charge was filed Thursday. King County prosecutors had earlier reviewed the case and decided a felony charge was not warranted.

Haynes, 35, and a male friend were inside BalMar when they noticed their coats were missing from their chairs, according to court documents detailing now-dropped criminal charges that were brought against others involved in the brawl.

Haynes found a woman outside the club holding the jackets and asked her to return them.

The woman refused, claiming the jackets belonged to a friend, the documents say. The woman returned the jackets after Haynes identified himself as a police officer. She walked away as Haynes called 911.

Three men, all in their 20s, followed Haynes and his friend and yelled at them to leave the woman alone, prompting Haynes to identify himself as a police officer and show his badge.

As Haynes and his friend followed the women, both were attacked from behind by the men, according to the court documents.

The first officer to respond to the call didn't recognize Haynes as an officer. The officer got one of the men to sit down and attempted to stop the other two from assaulting Haynes.

The officer then recognized Haynes as a colleague who worked in the same precinct, according to the Police Department.

After the officer pulled one man away and focused on restraining another, the man sitting on the ground got up and kicked Haynes in the head, the court documents say. Haynes suffered minor injuries.

Other responding officers handcuffed the men and had them lie facedown on the sidewalk. By that time, the woman had left the scene.

It was at that point Haynes stomped on the head of one of the men, but not the one who had kicked him.

Haynes' action was recorded on the dashboard camera of a patrol car.

The responding officers immediately reported Haynes' stomp to their supervisor. The matter was initially reviewed by the department's Office of Professional Accountability (OPA), which then referred the matter to detectives for a criminal investigation.

The stomp was never documented or described in paperwork sent to the King County Prosecutor's Office, which charged the three men with third-degree assault of a police officer, a felony offense. The stomping was later disclosed to prosecutors in a follow-up report.

The charges against the three men were dismissed in April after Haynes, through his attorney, asserted a Fifth Amendment right not to testify in the trial of the men. The Prosecutor's Office said it could refile the case if Haynes changes his mind.

Haynes, who joined the department in January 2009, has been working in nonpatrol job while the matter was under investigation.

In April, city attorneys charged another Seattle police officer, James J. Lee, with fourth-degree assault after video from a convenience store showed him repeatedly kicking a teenage robbery suspect last year. Lee has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The decision to charge Lee drew sharp criticism from the Seattle police union and the head of the management association representing lieutenants and captains.

Information from Seattle Times archives is included in this story.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com

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