Aftershocks rock Tacoma after police officer drives through crowd

Shock waves continued to reverberate through Tacoma Sunday as city leaders and residents dealt with the aftermath of a police officer driving through a crowd and injuring two people while trying to disperse street racers.

Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards addressed the incident Sunday afternoon.

“For those who woke up this morning feeling outrage, frustration, grief, heartbreak, or confusion, I understand and honor your feelings. I, too, am deeply saddened by what we saw last night,” Woodards said in a statement.

“As a use of deadly force, this incident is being taken very seriously and the scene has appropriately been turned over to the Pierce County Force Investigation Team for independent investigation. As we learn the facts of the case, I have called on the City Manager and Police Chief to ensure that everyone involved is held accountable.”

Woodards said she’s “deeply concerned” and praying for everyone impacted.

“I continue to be proud of Tacoma’s long-standing reputation as a place of strong, non-violent advocacy and activism,” she continued. “I continue to support your right to use your voice to advocate and demonstrate peacefully during this time of heightened tension.

“I know our community’s resiliency continues to be tested. I also know that we are strong and that we will get through this together.”

City Manager Elizabeth Pauli told The News Tribune Sunday afternoon that any use of deadly force by police has a high level of impact on the relationship between police and the community — especially as the city undergoes a transformation of its police department.

“We’re going to be on higher level scrutiny than ever,” she said.

Pauli said that the officer involved will be placed on leave and she is turning the case over to the Pierce County Force Investigation Team. Pauli added she’s concerned about any use of deadly force by a police officer and said she’ll take appropriate actions once she has all the facts of the case.

Outside investigation coming

Mike Ake, interim police chief, said the incident will be investigated as a deadly use of force.

The Pierce County Force Investigation Team is a multi-jurisdictional team recently formed to investigate all police deadly force incidents in the county. This is the team’s third use-of-force investigation.

Detectives responded to the scene Saturday night and expect to soon interview the Tacoma officer involved. A statement released Sunday evening by Tacoma Police said the officer is “a 58-year-old male who has been a member of the Tacoma Police Department for 29.5 years.”

Puyallup police Capt. Dan Pashon, one of the team’s investigators, said there’s no policy for how an officer should respond if a crowd surrounds a patrol car.

“You really can’t come up with a clear situation on how to handle something along those lines,” he said. “It’s going to come down to the investigation determining what his thought process was. It’s too early to tell exactly what he was thinking and why he did what he did.”

The officer was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure after such incidents.

Council limits comments

Tacoma City Council members said they were following the case but were hesitant to comment amid the investigation.

Council member Catherine Ushka told The News Tribune in an email Sunday that her first concern is the well-being of those injured.

“The incident was turned over for independent investigation as a ‘use of force‘ and that is appropriate. I am challenged by the fact that that puts me in a place as a public official that I can’t offer opinions without appearing to intend to influence the outcome, however that also is appropriate,” Ushka wrote.

Council member Kristina Walker echoed that any injury by use of force at the hands of police is a “serious matter and should be investigated thoroughly.”

“Since the incident is under investigation as a use of force incident, elected officials cannot comment on the case. An independent investigation is being conducted by the Pierce County Force Investigation Team, a multi-agency group, developed in response to I-940. I, with my colleagues, am committed to ensuring that everyone involved is held accountable,” Walker said in an email.

Council member Chris Beale called the footage “stunning and horrific,” and said as of Sunday morning he had not yet been briefed by city administration on the case.

“Having not yet been briefed by city administration, I cannot tell you more about the events beyond what’s been reported by TPD spokespersons and my witnessing of the video footage. That said, it’s hard to imagine how the severity of the actions of the officer(s) involved match the footage of the situation. My heart hurts for this city this evening and for the individuals harmed, their families and loved ones,” he said in an email Saturday night.

Council members who responded said they were committed to holding officers accountable following a police investigation.

“I am fully committed to ensuring that everyone involved is held accountable and that we establish measures to prevent anything like this from occurring again. There is no circumstance where police brutality of any sort is tolerable,” Ushka said.

How it started

Several people called 911 about 6:20 p.m. to report about 100 people blocking a downtown intersection and cars spinning in circles at South 9th Street and Pacific Avenue.

Investigators said at least three Tacoma police officers responded to the scene and tried to clear people out of the intersection.

One patrol SUV with its lights and sirens on was surrounded by pedestrians, who could be heard in video clips yelling and banging on the vehicle.

“The officer, fearing for his safety, tried to back up but was unable to do so because of the crowd,” Tacoma police said in a written statement.

Cell phone videos show the officer backed up several feet before revving the engine and suddenly surging forward, striking the group and running over at least one person.

Two people were taken to a local hospital with injuries. One had been released by Sunday morning. Neither had life-threatening injuries, investigators said.

Police were not immediately sure if the injuries were sustained from being run over or trying to move out of the way.

Sherrie Minter and her 19-year-old daughter watched the events unfold from their fifth floor window of the Hotel Olympus Apartments.

They saw four cars and two trucks taking turns spinning in circles in the intersection. The sideshow appeared organized since some of the drivers pulled to the side to change tires.

The reckless driving went on for about 15 minutes before police arrived, and at least one car continued to do donuts even after officers were on scene. The crowd allegedly tried to block the officer’s patrol SUV from getting to the driver spinning in circles.

“The crowd wouldn’t let the cop through and I was frustrated for the officer, but he wasn’t surrounded,” Minter said. “I was really shocked when the cop went through the crowd.”

Investigators declined to say Sunday whether the officer, who was alone in the patrol SUV, radioed for help before driving through the crowd.

At least one Tacoma police SUV had a window broken out.

Protesters gather

Outraged people who saw video of the officer plowing through the group of pedestrians gathered at the scene shortly afterward to protest.

Jamika Scott, a member of the Tacoma Action Collective, was one of two protesters arrested Saturday night. She said the group was standing behind the crime scene tape when a police officer told them to move.

“One of the officers walked directly up to me and immediately started pushing me,” she told The News Tribune on Sunday. “(He) put his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back multiple times. I was like, ‘Please don’t touch me. Please don’t touch me.’ And I wasn’t pushing them back — both of my hands were on my camera because I was recording.”

Scott said she noticed another protester sitting down and being arrested. As she tried to film the arrest, she said the officer continued to push her, and she heard an officer order to arrest her.

“My initial instinct is to continue to back away from them,” Scott said. “So they grabbed me, they’re yanking at me, they’re pulling my cell phone out of my hand, they tackled me to the ground, they were on top of me, pulling my arms behind my back. At that point when I was on the ground, I wasn’t resisting,” she said.

Scott was taken to the County-City Building and said she was charged with obstruction of a public official. She made bail with help from community donations after about four hours.

Scott has been vocal about justice for Manuel Ellis and calling for the police officers involved with his death to be fired. She said Sunday’s incident doesn’t help the relationship between police and the community.

“This is digging the chasm even wider, even deeper,” she said. “At this point I don’t see a path forward for reconciliation in this city of its citizens and police. People need to be fired. People need to be charged, prosecuted, convicted. It feels lawless.”

Street racing surge

After the incident in downtown Tacoma Saturday night, the street racers apparently continued their sideshow at 96th Street South and Steele Street South.

Pierce County sheriff’s deputies and Lakewood police responded about 11:35 p.m. after residents called to report people doing donuts in the street and shooting guns.

One resident heard 7 to 8 gunshots.

About 100 people gathered at the intersection to watch the cars, sheriff’s Sgt. Darren Moss said. Deputies were able to clear the intersection by 12:15 a.m.

Nobody was arrested, and no injuries were reported.

“Street racing is not new for us,” Moss said. “But their refusal to disperse immediately and shots being fired is something we’re not used to. It’s very concerning that they’re getting more aggressive.”

A similar incident took place Dec. 26 at South 12th Street and South Ainsworth Avenue, with several people calling 911 about roads being blocked and street racers doing burnouts.

When deputies tried to break up the group, people in the crowd allegedly threw glass bottles. Police from Tacoma and Lakewood, as well as Washington State Patrol troopers, assisted to help get control of the crowd.

“This is a reoccurring issue in this area per callers to 911,” according to a Sheriff’s Department email. “I am aware of this also being an ongoing issue, however, this is the first time they refused to move on. They were also coordinating with other racers to come into the area and block all lanes by driving slowly to impede police response.”

Puyallup has struggled so much with street racing recently that the city enacted a new ordinance prohibiting people from attending or participating in the activity. Officials put up signs in three areas warning against street racing.

Earlier this month, Auburn police began overnight shut downs of areas where street racers typically gathered. That crackdown stemmed from a December incident where three people were injured, two critically, after being struck by a drifting car at a street racing event.

Authorities say it’s an organized group of street racers that post on social media where they will be so spectators can show up to watch. The group allegedly caravans around Pierce and King counties, and once shut down the Tacoma Narrows Bridge.

What’s next

There is no time estimate for how long the investigation into the officer’s actions will take. PCFIT’s job is to conduct a criminal investigation and turn its findings over to the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office, which will determine whether criminal charges are warranted.

If not, the Police Department will do an internal investigation into whether the officer violated any policies and procedures.

Pashon could not immediately say how many witnesses were interviewed Saturday night, or how many video clips they had collected. He asked anyone present for the incident to call the Puyallup Police Department’s tip line at 253-770-3343 or email them at tips@puyallupwa.gov.

Tacoma’s Community Police Advisory Board is holding a special meeting at 6 p.m. Monday to discuss the incident.

“This was so serious and so upsetting and so outrageous that we could not wait for the regular meeting on Feb 6,” said committee chair Stephen Hagberg.

This story was originally published January 24, 2021 at 3:11 PM.