A Tacoma police officer was charged Thursday with assaulting his estranged wife and sending her to the hospital.
Prosecutors charged Marco Rahn, 35, with fourth-degree domestic violence assault, a misdemeanor, in Pierce County District Court. Rahn, who's on paid administrative leave, is scheduled to be in court today.
Court documents allege Rahn grabbed his estranged wife by the throat and threw her to the ground Wednesday morning in University Place. The two have been separated for eight months and she has lived at their University Place home.
Rahn came to the house shortly before 7 a.m. Wednesday after he called and his wife said she didn't want to see him, court documents state. He threatened to vandalize or disable his wife's car unless she stayed and talked with him, documents state.
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One neighbor, who awoke to the sounds of a woman screaming, saw Rahn and his wife falling off a nearby retaining wall, court documents state.
After his arrest, Rahn told a detective his wife fell over the retaining wall by accident.
The police department has launched an internal investigation into Rahn's behavior. He previously received a letter of reprimand in 1999 after a Washington State Patrol investigation found he harassed a Tacoma woman who turned down his numerous requests for a date.
The State Patrol handled the investigation after a Tacoma internal affairs lieutenant offered the woman tickets to a Seattle Seahawks football game. She believed the officer was trying to bribe her into dropping the complaint.
The investigation cleared the internal affairs investigator of any wrongdoing but found Rahn guilty of misconduct.
The woman received $40,000 from the city after she filed a claim criticizing how the department handled her complaint.
Rahn later filed a federal discrimination lawsuit against his department and the city. A judge dismissed the case in December.
Stacey Mulick: 253-597-8268
stacey.mulick@mail.tribnet.com
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