Seems the Seahawks didn't do much research on Frank Clark's domestic abuse case

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Hotel manager Stephanie Burkhardt said the Seattle Seahawks rookie threatened her, saying “I will hit you like I hit her,” following an incident of domestic violence with his then-girlfriend for which Clark was arrested.

According to The Seattle Times, “he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of persistent disorderly conduct in a plea deal with prosecutors.” As a result, he was fined $250, served only the two days he’d already spent in jail, and did not have a domestic abuse charge on his record.

The Seahawks have gone the route of sticking their fingers in their ears and humming to themselves — they’ve done their own investigation and they don’t be believe he hit anyone (off a football field). So after saying they would not draft someone who put their hands on a woman, it seems like they did just that.

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And of course, they didn’t speak with many key witness. It’s not stated in the article whether they spoke with Burkhardt, who had this to say:

“YES, HE SAID IT,’’ SHE SAID (ABOUT HIS THREATS). “I WOULD NEVER LIE ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE THAT.’’

… “I DON’T KNOW WHY THEY DIDN’T EVEN QUESTION ME ABOUT IT,” BURKHARDT SAID. “HE STRAIGHT UP ADMITTED TO HITTING HER, AND THEY DIDN’T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT.’’

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Here’s the account from another witness from that night:

[ONE WITNESS] SAID THE WOMAN ON THE FLOOR INSIDE THE ROOM “WAS DEFINITELY BEAT UP” AND INITIALLY DIDN’T MOVE.

“SHE LOOKED UNCONSCIOUS,’’ [THE WITNESS] SAID. “SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS KNOCKED OUT, AND THEN SHE STARTED TO MOVE SLOWLY.’’

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But the Seahawks made him the 63rd overall pick in the draft, saying team officials had conducted an extensive investigation of their own and felt confident that the 6-foot-2, 277-pound Clark had not struck his girlfriend. The team acknowledged on Monday that their investigation did not include interviews with witnesses other than Clark.

The police report describing the incident quotes Diamond Hurt, then 20, saying Clark punched her in the face. Hurt’s younger brothers are quoted saying the same thing.

When Babson and Colie found her, Hurt “was just laying there,’’ Babson said. “She looked like she was unconscious to me.

“The kids were saying, ‘He killed my sister!’?’’

Colie added that Hurt “was on the ground, curled up and holding her head and stuff.’’

Both women gave written statements to police via email the following day. But they say they never heard back from anybody about the case until The Seattle Times contacted them on Monday.

They remain perplexed as to why there were no follow-up calls to them by police.

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