OMAK – An Okanogan County sheriff’s deputy chasing a man who had fled the scene of a traffic accident involving a stolen vehicle shot and killed the man early Monday in an Omak neighborhood, Sheriff Frank Rogers said.
The sheriff said the man was armed, but declined to say whether he drew or fired his weapon before the deputy shot him at about 5:15 a.m.
The dead man was identified as Bradley Behrens, 18, of Okanogan. Rogers did not immediately release the deputy’s name.
Chelan County sheriff’s detectives are investigating the shooting and the officer has been placed on paid administrative leave, the sheriff said.
The deputy was among officers from three agencies who responded to a report of a rollover accident just north of Omak. The car’s driver fled, but was chased for several blocks by the deputy, joined by officers from Omak and the Colville tribe, Rogers said.
The man stopped in a yard, where the deputy fatally shot him, the sheriff said.
The vehicle had been stolen hours earlier from the Okanogan area, Rogers said.
Four other people in the vehicle that rolled were treated at Mid-Valley Hospital in Omak, Rogers said. No officers were injured.
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