KENT, Wash. — A witness to the shooting death of a man at the hands of an Auburn police officer took the stand in the trial Wednesday.
Auburn Police Officer Jeffrey Nelson is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the death of Jesse Sarey in May 2019. Nelson was trying to arrest Sarey for disorderly conduct outside an Auburn grocery store before Sarey died.
Steven Woodard and his wife had arrived outside the grocery store when the shooting happened.
Woodard testified that he saw Nelson approach Sarey while he was trying to get something to drink out of a box of garbage. Nelson said something along the lines of, “I’ve already had to deal with you once,” before telling Sarey to get up and put his hands behind his back.
Nelson and Sarey then started to fight and grapple, while Nelson tried to handcuff Sarey and Sarey tried to escape, Woodard testified.
“They were going around like a Tasmanian devil in the old Bugs Bunny cartoon,” Woodard said.
Woodard jumped out of the passenger seat of his car and asked Nelson if he needed help. Defense attorneys cited transcripts from Woodard’s initial interviews with investigators that Woodard said it appeared for a brief second that Sarey was winning the fight.
Woodard said a knife fell on his foot. Woodard picked up the knife, which was folded shut, and put it on the hood of the car.
Woodard testified Nelson had Sarey in a headlock and was punching him “repeatedly.” Woodard said Nelson punched Sarey at least 10 times.
Sarey’s arms were near Nelson’s waist, and his hands “brushed” the barrel of Nelson’s gun, Woodard testified during direct examination.
During cross-examination, defense attorneys pointed out that Woodard originally told responding officers that Sarey tried to grab the gun.
After Sarey touched the gun, Woodard said Nelson stepped back, pushed Sarey away and shot him in the chest while Sarey was falling to the ground.
Woodard testified that Nelson then looked and pointed the gun at him before turning back to Sarey and shooting him in the head. Several seconds elapsed between the two shots, Woodard said.
“He was dying,” Woodard said. “There was no fight or nothing in him. He was done.”