LYNNWOOD — Snohomish County sheriff’s deputies shot and wounded a Lynnwood man because they thought he would run them over at the end of a 40-mile pursuit in late October, new court papers say.
For the first time, search warrants give an official account of the moments leading up to the shooting.
An earlier police report, from days after the arrest, didn’t mention that law enforcement used their sidearms. The man claimed he begged the deputies to hold their fire, according to the new records.
Deputies were originally called to a collision Oct. 31, near Martha Lake. They learned that the man, 42, had allegedly backed his SUV into his ex-girlfriend’s Chevy Camaro and had swung a hatchet at a man and several times at the car. He stabbed the man in the hand with a utility knife, according to deputies.
The suspect then fled in his SUV. He reportedly wouldn’t pull over when deputies spotted his vehicle about 1½ miles north. Instead, he took off southbound on I-5. Speeds topped 100 mph during the chase from Lynnwood to Seattle to Woodinville, via Highway 520.
During the chase, deputies were warned he might have a gun.
A deputy ended up in a T-bone crash with the SUV near Woodinville High School. Four sheriff’s deputies approached on foot, with guns ready. The suspect put the SUV in reverse and drove toward them, according to the search warrant written by Mukilteo police detective John Ernst.
Deputies told the man to stop. He reportedly didn’t. Three deputies opened fire. The SUV stopped. The man was apparently bleeding from gunshot wounds, but still alive. Deputies pulled him out. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
In intensive care, he claimed he’d raised his hands, screaming, “Don’t shoot me!” as well as, “I surrender, please show mercy, don’t kill me!”
He was later booked into the Snohomish County Jail for investigation of first-degree assault.
The morning’s events were a culmination of the man’s alleged erratic and violent behavior toward his ex-girlfriend, the documents say.
An anti-harassment petition filed in November claimed that he had repeatedly hit her over the past six months. He stalked the woman, as well, constantly calling and texting her and her mother, and driving by their house in Snohomish, according to the petition. He reportedly was using methamphetamine.
The father of the woman’s daughter wrote a statement in support of the protection order: “My experience with him has demonstrated a severe lack of impulse control, a violent temper and a disregard for other’s wellbeing and safety.”
Things escalated fast the morning of Oct. 31. The woman was at his house in the hours before the shooting, and he was acting paranoid and irritated, according to the warrant. He was reportedly angry that she wouldn’t eat the food he made and accused her of cheating on him. He threw things around the house and broke the TV, the detective wrote.
The woman said the man then slapped, punched and strangled her for about 30 seconds. Deputies didn’t find any obvious injuries on her later that morning. Investigators searched the house and noted its disarray matched her description, according to the warrant.
The woman escaped the house and got into her Camaro. The man reportedly broke the back window of the car as she left.
She met a friend at a nearby fast food restaurant. When they left, the suspect followed them down a residential street, into a cul-de-sac, and slammed his SUV into the front of the Camaro, court papers say.
That’s when someone called 911.
The warrant was the result of an investigation by the Snohomish County Multiple Agency Response Team. The group of local detectives, known as SMART, is tasked with cases in which law enforcement have used potentially fatal force.
October’s incident was the seventh SMART case this year. The county prosecutor reviews the team’s findings, to decide if the force was justified. In this case, three deputies were placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure.
The man posted $50,000 bond.
He was booked into the Snohomish County Jail again in November, for investigation of fourth-degree assault. He allegedly threw his walker at his daughter during an argument. According to a deputy’s report, the walker left a bump when it hit her in the head.
Zachariah Bryan: 425-339-3431; zbryan@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @zachariahtb.
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