2 fatal shootings by Pierce County law enforcement have been found justified
Prosecutors recently ruled two fatal shootings by Pierce County law enforcement justified.
One shooting was by Lakewood police last year. The other was by Puyallup Tribal Police in 2018.
The Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office sent letters to those agencies last month, saying the investigations of both deaths had been reviewed.
Puyallup Tribal Police Lt. Joseph Fitzpatrick’s shooting of 45-year-old Donald A. Judd was lawful, prosecutors decided.
So was the shooting of 43-year-old Keith Lawrence Harvey by Lakewood Police officers John Babcock, Jonathan Beard and Sgt. Jason Catlett, the Prosecutor’s Office found.
The letters, dated Feb. 11, give this account of the shootings:
Fitzpatrick killed Judd in October 2018 when police responded to the Emerald Queen Casino. They’d gotten a report that Judd was trying to steal a generator and attached light tower.
“Mr. Judd had hooked the generator and light tower to the back of his pickup truck and was driving through the parking lot in a reckless manner, nearly striking multiple pedestrians,” the Prosecutor’s Office wrote. “At some point the generator and light tower came loose, but Mr. Judd continued the erratic driving.”
A police corporal tried to stop Judd, who rammed into the corporal’s patrol car in reverse twice.
The corporal got out of the car, and a civilian came to help. Judd drove toward them, until another officer drove his patrol car between Judd and the two pedestrians.
That officer started chasing Judd’s vehicle around the parking lot.
“There were numerous people in the parking lot who were in immediate danger from Mr. Judd’s driving and his refusal to yield to the patrol cars. Lt. Fitzpatrick, who was driving a separate and fully-marked patrol car, joined the pursuit,” the prosecutor’s office wrote.
At some point Judd stopped again, and Fitzpatrick got out of his patrol vehicle.
“... Mr. Judd started his truck in a rapid reverse,” the prosecutor’s office wrote. “The lieutenant could see Mr. Judd looking at him in one of the truck’s mirrors. Mr. Judd appeared to adjust his direction to drive directly at the lieutenant.”
Fitzpatrick shot five times as Judd crashed into his patrol car and once more when Judd didn’t show his hands as ordered and looked like he was trying to start driving again.
Judd died at the scene.
He had a gunshot wound to his chest and one to each hand.
Tests showed he had methamphetamine and amphetamine in his system as well as small amounts of ephedrine and phenylpropanolamine.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation interviewed friends and family and learned Judd had struggled with addictions to drugs, alcohol and gambling.
Not long before the shooting he told someone he knew that the casino had taken all his money, he hadn’t slept for five days, he “had a job to do” and “this will be war.”
The Lakewood police shooting of Harvey happened a few months later, in January 2019.
Harvey called 911 to say he’d been in a car crash. An officer responded but didn’t find a wreck.
A 911 operator called Harvey back. He said he was at his apartment and someone with a knife and a gun was inside and that the person seemed to be on drugs.
He described the intruder, and it later turned out he was giving a description of himself.
The 911 operator asked Harvey to go outside and talk to officers who had arrived at the home in the 6400 block of 88th Street Court Southwest.
He did so with a kitchen knife in his outstretched hand. The blade was five-and-a-half inches.
Lakewood officers Babcock, Beard and Sgt. Catlett told Harvey to drop the knife. He didn’t and hurried down a set of stairs toward them with the knife.
The officers backed up, and Harvey followed Catlett.
“All three estimate that Mr. Harvey got to within one to three feet of Sgt. Catlett with the knife before they fired at him with their service weapons,” the Prosecutor’s Office wrote. “Officer Babcock fired four shots. Officer Beard fired seven shots. Sgt. Catlett fired four shots.
Harvey was hit several times and died at the scene.
Family told investigators that Harvey didn’t have a history of mental illness but that he’d recently been despondent and wouldn’t talk about what was wrong.
A coworker said Harvey had been experiencing stress related to a relationship with an estranged family member and had been talking about suicide.
“He discussed ‘suicide by cop’ and stated that he knew the police would kill him if he acted aggressively towards them,” the Prosecutor’s Office wrote.
