Pierce deputies fatally shot a man in 2019. Prosecutors this week issued their findings
The Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has determined two sheriff’s deputies lawfully shot dead a Parkland man who approached them with a knife in 2019 after he reportedly drank heavily and threatened his family.
In a letter sent to Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer on Wednesday, deputy prosecutor Claire Vitikainen wrote deputies “had no reasonable alternative to shooting” 56-year-old Curtis French, who reportedly ignored police commands, resisted a Taser stun and screamed at deputies to kill him as he came toward them on Nov. 3, 2019. She wrote the deputies used justifiable lethal force to protect others and themselves.
Deputies Aaron Wolfe and Jason Chavez shot French almost simultaneously when he came within a few feet of them, according to an investigative summary in Vitikainen’s letter to Troyer. French died at the scene.
The Sheriff’s Department assisted Tacoma police in investigating the shooting, which occurred prior to state law clarifications mandating fully independent deadly force investigations, according to the letter. The county Medical Examiner’s Office and investigators from the Prosecutor’s Office also assisted.
Body-worn camera footage was not captured during the incident because sheriff’s deputies did not begin wearing them until December 2021.
Prosecutor’s Office spokesperson Adam Faber attributed the more than two years that passed between the incident and charging decision to varying prosecutor caseloads. Vitikainen has been in trial recently, Faber said.
An estimated nine fatal uses of force and one non-fatal incident remain under review by the Prosecutor’s Office, according to Faber.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team, or PCFIT, has investigated a dozen deadly force incidents in 2022 and submitted seven of them to be reviewed by prosecutors.
The letter from the Prosecutor’s Office provides the following account of the November 2019 shooting in Parkland:
French’s daughter-in-law called 911 to report he was intoxicated, armed with a knife and threatening several people in the house they shared, as well as threatening to kill police officers and himself.
Wolfe and Chavez were dispatched at about 6:20 p.m., and Wolfe armed himself with a rifle when they arrived.
French was standing on the front porch with the door open as the deputies stood in the roadway in front of the house, according to their statements. The area was dark, and the deputies could not see whether French was armed. Cars parked in the home’s gravel driveway sometimes obscured their view during the incident.
When Chavez ordered French to show his hands, he reportedly responded with an expletive and, “Kill me,” according to the deputies’ statements. French repeated the phrase as Chavez continued to give verbal commands.
Chavez holstered his pistol and drew his Taser, then French began walking down the front porch steps. He yelled for deputies to kill him again when he was about 15 feet away. Chavez reported French was staring at him. Wolfe said he could only see a silhouette.
Chavez couldn’t see French’s hands but ordered him to drop his knife due to the 911 report of him being armed, according to his statement.
French continued yelling for deputies to kill him as he got closer to them. Wolfe raised his rifle to his shoulder and turned on its flashlight when he could no longer make out French’s silhouette, he reported.
Chavez yelled for French to show his hands, and French turned toward the deputies, illuminating the knife in his hand for both deputies to see.
French yelled unintelligibly as he approached the deputies, according to Chavez’s statement. Wolfe said French moved toward them quickly.
Both deputies reported French squeezing the fixed-blade knife in his hand, giving them the impression he was preparing to attack them. He didn’t react to further orders from both deputies to drop the knife and walked at a “brisk pace.”
Chavez fired his Taser at French when he came within about 10 feet of the deputies. The prongs appeared to strike French, who was wearing a T-shirt, but he did not react.
French turned toward Chavez and took “aggressive steps” toward him, then turned his focus toward Wolfe. French was about 5 feet away from both deputies.
Chavez threw down his Taser and yelled, “Stop or I’ll shoot.” He reported he was concerned French would stab Wolfe or him if he retreated.
When French came within “lunging distance,” Chavez shot French, sending him to the ground with his knife in his hand. At nearly the same time, Wolfe fired at French three times with his rifle.
Wolfe reported to dispatch that they’d fired, and the deputies waited for backup to approach French because his knife was underneath his torso. Deputies began CPR and handcuffed French after rolling him over.
French died shortly thereafter. His family members cried near the side of their house.
French’s ex-wife, who lived with him and four relatives, told investigators that she and other family members escaped to a neighbor’s property while they waited for police to arrive. She said his heavy alcohol use had prompted them to leave their home the night before as well.
She said she witnessed French screaming for deputies to kill him as he approached them with a knife. She said she heard a Taser fire before several gunshots.
French’s son said his father often made suicidal statements but had not specifically mentioned so-called ‘suicide by cop’ before.
Witnesses reported seeing French swaying and having trouble balancing when police arrived.
“It’s what he wanted,” French’s ex-wife told investigators. “He was ready for it. It’s what he wanted.”
