Body-worn, dashcam and surveillance footage captured a man, identified by police as 37-year-old Brian Leil, running toward Officer Caleb Pomazon’s patrol car Thursday.
A Washington man was arrested after he allegedly threw a piece of burning wood into a Seattle police vehicle while an officer was inside. Body-worn, dashcam and surveillance footage captured a man, identified by police as 37-year-old Brian Leil, running toward Officer Caleb Pomazon’s patrol car Thursday.
Leil allegedly swung a hammer at a man in a nearby park before the incident, according to documents from King County Superior Court and the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office obtained by the News Tribune. Multiple people jumped on Leil and wrestled the hammer away from him before he fled, according to the Tribune.
Pomazon then reportedly responded to reports of a man walking around with a piece of wood that was on fire. He tried to get out of his squad car and yelled for the man to stop, but instead, the man ran toward the officer and threw the flaming wood into his car, authorities said.
The wood hit the police officer in the thigh. Pomazon fired several shots at Leil, but Leil wasn’t hit, the Tribune reported.
Pomazon had to climb out of the passenger’s side window of his car to escape before it was fully engulfed in flames. The car was destroyed, costing the city $70,000, according to reports.
Pomazon and several other officers chased Leil into a nearby parking garage. After he allegedly ignored their commands, they used a Taser on him. He was arrested and charged with first- and second-degree assault.
Pomazon was treated at Harborview Medical Center for burns on his leg.
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