SPOKANE, Wash. — The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office found that Shawn Audie used excessive force during a traffic stop on Dec. 31, 2017, before he became the school resource officer at Ferris High School, records show.
Audie, who resigned from Ferris days after he was put on leave after he restrained a student during a fight, previously retired as a deputy from the force amid an investigation into his conduct stemming from a 2017 traffic stop, according to the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office.
According to documents obtained by KREM, the sheriff’s office found Audie in violation of four different misconduct allegations. Each allegation was found to be “sustained,” which is defined as “when the investigation discloses sufficient evidence to establish that the act occurred and that it constituted misconduct.”
These allegations include excessive use of force, making misleading or false statements during an investigation, wrongful or unlawful exercise of authority and discourteous or disrespectful treatment of a member of the public.
The findings of the SCSO internal investigation are dated as Sept. 5, 2018, four days after Audie’s retirement from the force.
Audie made headlines after he restrained a student during a fight at Ferris on Jan. 24, 2019. Students claimed that Audie had used excessive force in restraining the student.
Spokane Public Schools placed Audie on leave on Feb. 4, 2019, the same day the district requested records from the SCSO about Audie’s time with the department, according to an email in the records.
The traffic stop in question involved Audie and a deputy in training contacting a man who refused to initially stop. The man complained that Audie had used excessive force during the stop, including putting his knee into the man’s back while on the ground, according to the investigation notes.
The other allegations found to be true include Audie calling the man an “idiot” while at the Spokane County Jail and making false or misleading statements about the possibility his radio’s microphone cord had become wrapped around the man’s leg during the arrest.
Audie submitted a letter of resignation from the school district dated Feb. 7, 2019. The resignation will not take effect until April 30, after he has exhausted his paid leave days.
Audie also had been named in a 2013 wrongful death lawsuit after a man passed away following a confrontation that saw Audie put a man in a choke hold during a confrontation with another deputy outside of a South Hill Oz Fitness.