In August 2023, former Spokane County sheriff’s Sgt. Clay Hilton found a man sleeping in a car in the Terrace View Park parking lot in Spokane Valley. On body-camera footage, Hilton can be seen telling the occupant, Kevin Hinton, that it is a crime to be in the park after hours.
Hinton argued that it was at most a civil infraction and refused to identify himself after Hilton asked for his ID. Within the span of a minute, the video shows, the law enforcement officer hit Hinton in the face and dragged him out of the car by his ankle.
Once Hinton was on the ground, the body-camera video shows Hilton hitting the man multiple times as he cries before another officer arrives to help restrain him. According to court documents, Hinton suffered eight broken ribs, a punctured lung and a concussion…