LYNNWOOD, Wash — New video released to KING 5 captured the intense moments when an off-duty police officer was arrested for allegedly pointing her pistol at an angry driver during a road rage incident last Monday.
The officer, identified as Melinda Leen, has not been charged, but KING 5 is naming her due to her position of authority.
The Edmonds police chief confirmed to KING 5 that Leen has worked for the department for three years. However, she is now on administrative leave while the department investigates the incident.
Lynnwood police were dispatched to a "high-risk traffic stop" of Leen in her Subaru after a 22-year-old man from Maple Valley reported to 911 dispatchers that she had pointed her gun at him. The confrontation allegedly occurred at the intersection of 196th Street Southwest and 44th Avenue West, near the Olive Garden in Lynnwood.
Body-worn camera footage shows the arresting officers of the Lynnwood Police Department putting handcuffs on Leen, entirely unaware that the driver they were arresting was one of their own, an off-duty officer from Edmonds.
In the video, one officer says to Leen, “I thought you looked familiar. " She responds by identifying herself and explaining her side of the story.
Leen claims the driver had been tailgating her and flashing his lights.
She said that he refused to let her merge as they were both attempting to exit off I-5 South on Exit 181.
Leen said that when they stopped at the light, the man made a “finger gun” gesture, prompting her to pull out her own pistol and briefly flash it at him before putting it away.
The 911 caller, however, told police that Leen had pointed a black pistol directly at him after he "put [his] hands up all confused." The police report does not include any statement by the man that he made a "finger gun" gesture.
Leen could face a charge of second-degree assault. However, Snohomish County prosecutors said Wednesday that the case is still under investigation, and a decision on formal charges has not been made.