A police officer in Marana, Arizona, used his cruiser to ram a suspect with a gun on foot during a pursuit.
Dramatic dash-cam footage shows Mario Valencia, 36, flying through the air on Feb. 16 after Officer Michael Rapiejko used his vehicle to put an end to the police department’s pursuit. Mr. Valencia is charged with robbing a convenience store in Tucson, breaking into a church, invading a home, stealing a car and stealing a rifle from Wal-Mart prior to the incident, The Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Officer Rapiejko was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Pima County Attorney’s Office, AP reported.
“If we’re going to choose between maybe we’ll let him go a little bit farther and see what happens, or we’re going to take him out now and eliminate any opportunity he has to hurt somebody, you’re going to err on the side of, in favor of the innocent people. Without a doubt,” Police Chief Terry Rozema told a local Fox News affiliate on Tuesday.
Mr. Valencia’s attorney, Michelle Cohen-Metzger, countered that claim, telling the station “Everything in the video seems to point towards an obvious excessive use of force. It is miraculous that my client isn’t dead.”
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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