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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Officer Indicted In Otto Zehm Death

Item: SPD officer indicted in Otto Zehm death/Thomas Clouse, SR

More Info: A federal grand jury has indicted the first officer who responded to a confrontation with mentally ill janitor Otto Zehm, which resulted in Zehm’s death and sparked a cry for citizen police oversight. U.S. Attorney James McDevitt announced that the grand jury has indicted veteran Spokane Police Officer Karl Thompson, who was the first of seven officers to confront Zehm, a 36-year-old janitor who had schizophrenia. Zehm died two days after he was beaten with a baton, shocked multiple times with a Taser and hogtied inside the Zip Trip at 1712 N. Division St.

Question: In the comments section, HMOffsuite posts and link to this story and comments: "It looks like Otto Zehm may receive the justice that he deserves." Do you agree with that assessment?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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