Seattle cop apologizes for screaming racist threat at innocent man he'd kicked in face

In the early hours of April 17, Seattle's 15-year veteran police detective Shandy Cobane nabbed the wrong man while responding to a robbery. Less than a month later, he was in tears before the press and his community, pleading for forgiveness.

What happened that fateful night was brought to the world thanks to the presence of an amateur videographer, who captured Cobane kicking an innocent man in the face as he lay face down on the concrete.

The robbery suspect was reportedly Hispanic. Facing their Hispanic male suspect who lay compliant on the ground, Cobane screamed: "I'm going to beat the fucking Mexican piss out of you homey. You feel me?"

Apparently reacting to the man wiping his eye, the officer kicked his face and dragged his boot across the man's arm. Seconds later, a female officer on the scene stomped on his leg.

Once freed, officers appeared to acknowledge the man's injuries and one advises him to lean against a car to ensure he could remain on his feet. "I want you to relax your weight on the car, okay?" one said. "Put your hands back so you don't fall down."

After police realized their suspect had committed no wrongs and moved away, the videographer got up close with his subject.

"So they kicked you in the head, man?" he asked the victim.

"Yeah, they did," he said, appearing mildly dazed. Asked why, the man replied with a pained smirk: "I don't know ... They just knocked me down and kicked me in the head."

"I know my words cut deep and were very hurtful. ... I am truly, truly sorry," Cobane told reporters on Sunday, according to The Seattle Times.

"Cobane said that as a 15-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department, he at no time envisioned that he would 'do anything to bring such notoriety to my department. Sadly, I did,'" the paper added.

He apparently did not apologize for injuring the man.

While the incident in the video took place on a Saturday, officer Cobane was not put on leave until the following Friday. Police claimed an internal investigation was underway.

This video is from Seattle's KOMO News 4, published to YouTube on May 7, 2010.