WASHINGTON – A federal grand jury in Seattle returned an indictment today charging King County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brian Bonnar with a federal civil rights violation and perjury, announced Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Jeffrey C. Sullivan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington.
The indictment alleges that on Oct. 22, 2005, Bonnar, while acting as a deputy sheriff, physically assaulted and injured a female arrestee, willfully depriving her of her constitutional right be free from the intentional use of unreasonable force by a police officer. The indictment further alleges that Bonnar committed perjury when he testified about the incident before a federal grand jury on Jan. 17, 2008.
An indictment is only an allegation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the Internal Investigation Unit of the King County Sheriff’s Office and special agents of the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly L. Harris and Civil Rights Division Trial Attorney Edward Caspar.
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