Medical examiner identifies man fatally shot by Tacoma police last month following chase
A man pursued by Tacoma police last week as a suspect in a shooting at a South End bar was fatally shot after fleeing multiple times, according to investigators. He was identified Thursday by the Pierce County medical examiner.
Dillion Pugsley, 39, died Dec. 30 of multiple gunshot wounds, the Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office announced in a news release. The office said Pugsley was from Federal Way. His death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators with the Pierce County Force Investigation Team are investigating the shooting, which occurred at about 3:20 a.m. near the 5700 block of McKinley Avenue. PCFIT is tasked with investigating every incident in the county where police use deadly force. The team has not yet identified the officers who shot and killed Pugsley.
It’s unclear if there was an exchange of gunfire between Pugsley and Tacoma Police Department officers. Investigators only said a firearm was recovered at the scene of the shooting. The law enforcement officer assigned as a spokesperson for the shooting, Sheriff’s Department Sgt. Darren Moss, said Thursday that there was a groove in the hood of one officer’s patrol car that looked like it was made by a bullet. The patrol car was right in front of Pugsley’s vehicle, Moss said, but whether Pugsley fired the shot is still being determined.
There was also a bullet hole in a patrol car’s windshield, but Moss said it was from an officer firing at the suspect.
Tacoma police were working to apprehend Pugsley that night because they had probable cause to arrest him for unlawful discharge of a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm, according to a news release from PCFIT. Moss said those offenses were related to a disturbance at a bar the previous evening in the 1200 block of South 56th Street.
The bar asked Pugsley to leave, Moss said, and as he did, he allegedly fired a gunshot in the direction of the business.
Police responded to the bar at about 8 p.m. for a report of shots fired, PCFIT said in its release. Investigators said officers identified the subject involved and located his vehicle, but the driver wouldn’t pull over when officers tried to stop it. Police didn’t chase the vehicle, and Pugsley fled. At 9:45 p.m., the bar called police again because he had returned. Investigators said Tacoma police went to the bar, but again Pugsley fled.
Hours later, police found Pugsley asleep in his car with a woman in the passenger seat, according to PCFIT. Officers put stop sticks in front of his car and began a felony stop, but Pugsley fled when he awoke, and officers followed. Investigators said the vehicle crashed at one point near East 43rd and F streets, and the woman got out.
Pugsley continued driving south on McKinley Avenue until the vehicle stopped in the 5700 block and the shooting occurred. Officers radioed shots fired at 3:22 a.m. Medical aid was called to the scene, but Pugsley was pronounced dead.
