Fleeing Suspect Rams Deputy’s Vehicle after Pursuit and is Shot
Early this morning. Spokane Valley Deputies received a call to check the welfare of a female who told a citizen she needed help. The female, who appeared to have been badly beaten and injured, left the store in a van with an adult male. A Deputy attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver refused to stop and began to flee. After turning down a dead-end road, the driver rammed the patrol car, disabling it. The Deputy exited his vehicle, drew his weapon and began giving commands. When the driver accelerated toward the Deputy, he fired his weapon striking the suspect.
On July 25, 2018, just prior to 2:00 a.m., Spokane Valley Deputies responded to a call of a female who reportedly appeared to be in danger. A caller stated the female appeared to have been badly beaten/injured and asked for help prior to leaving the store in a van driven by an adult male.
Deputies began looking for the vehicle and preliminary information indicates a Deputy located it a few minutes later near the area of Hartson and Thor. When the Deputy attempted to initiate a traffic stop of the vehicle, the driver failed to pull over and continued south on Thor. The driver seemed to be stopping a few blocks later but instead, he turned west on Hills Ct. and began to flee.
As the driver approached the end of Hills Ct., he turned the vehicle around and rammed into the Deputy’s marked patrol car, disabling it. The Deputy exited his vehicle, drew his weapon and began giving commands. The driver accelerated toward the Deputy and the Deputy fired his weapon, striking the driver.
Life-saving medical attention was initiated at the scene by law enforcement until they were relieved by medical personnel. Despites these efforts, the male was pronounced deceased at the scene.
The adult female passenger was provided medical attention before she was transported to a hospital for additional treatment.
The Officer Involved Protocol was enacted and SIRR Team investigators responded to the scene to conduct the investigation and processes the scene for evidence. The SIRR Team is comprised of multiple agencies in eastern Washington, including the Spokane Police Department, Washington State Patrol, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and the Spokane Valley Police Department.
• The Spokane Police Department is the case managing agency in this incident. All future communications regarding this investigation will be sent via the SIRR Team.
• The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will release the name of the decedent at a later date.
• The Spokane County Sheriff’s Office will release the names of the deputy involved in the incident at a later time when appropriate.
• Once the SIRR Team investigation is complete the case will be forwarded to the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office for review.