Nicholas Hogan, Civil Rights Violation, Washington 2011

Nicholas Hogan, 36, a former Tukwila and Snoqualmie Police Officer, pleaded guilty to Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law for an attack on a handcuffed man at a Seattle hospital.

U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes announced the guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Under the terms of his plea agreement, Hogan is prohibited from seeking employment as a police officer or security guard for 15 years.

On May 20, 2011, Hogan responded to a report of a fight on Pacific Highway South in Tukwila. A man was taken into custody on a misdemeanor warrant, but because of his injuries, the King County Jail instructed Hogan to take the man to Harborview.

Hogan admits in his plea agreement that the man was handcuffed and refusing to get out of the patrol car. He physically removed the man from the car and when the man grabbed Hogan’s arm, Hogan pulled away and repeatedly struck the man in the head with his knee.

Taking the man into the Harborview emergency room, Hogan repeatedly shoved the man until he fell and then Hogan dropped on top of him, restraining him with a knee in his back. The man was placed on the gurney in four-point restraints so that he could not move his arms or legs.

Hogan used pepper spray on the restrained man while he was in a treatment area surrounded by a curtain. In the plea agreement, Hogan admits he knew that the spray was not necessary or reasonable under the circumstances.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Hogan surrenders any law enforcement commission and agrees not to seek reinstatement of any law enforcement commission or seek a new law enforcement commission, or seek employment in any law enforcement agency or law enforcement-related employment, including but not limited to any city, county, state, or federal policing or corrections positions, or that of a private security guard, or any position that requires the carrying of a firearm, for a period of 15 years.

Hogan faces up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour is scheduled to sentence Hogan on January 27, 2017.

This case was investigated by the FBI, with prosecution led by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce Miyake for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorneys Rose Gibson and Jared Fishman of the Civil Rights Division.

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