Shooting at Tacoma police was this man’s third strike. Now he’s off to prison for life
A 49-year-old man who fired a shotgun at Tacoma police from his car while trying to elude officers pursuing him as a suspect in a West End burglary was sentenced Monday to life in prison without possibility of parole.
Scott Joseph Riggs pleaded guilty Feb. 23 in Pierce County Superior Court to attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle while armed with a firearm, a strike under Washington state’s “three strikes” law, the Persistent Offender Accountability Act.
Riggs previously was convicted of two other crimes considered “most serious offenses,” so the only punishment available to Judge pro tempore Jerry Costello was life imprisonment.
No officers were injured by Riggs’ gunfire. According to court records, the Aug. 23, 2022, shooting occurred after multiple patrol vehicles chased him north shortly after 3 a.m. on North Pearl Street, where Riggs reportedly reached speeds of 100-110 mph in an Audi A5.
The pursuit slowed when he entered a residential neighborhood near North 31st Street, and records state he tossed a box of narcotics from his car before firing three gunshots.
Riggs crashed into a parked car near 3300 N. Stevens St., and an officer shot at him with a rifle when he exited his car holding the shotgun, records state. The officer missed, and Riggs ran, dropping his firearm in a bush. Eventually, officers working near 3300 N. Orchard St. detained him.
Police were after Riggs because he was a suspect in a burglary and assault that occurred at an apartment complex the night before in the 5700 block of North 33rd Street. According to charging papers, the people in the apartment reported that Riggs was helping a tenant move out when a “disturbance” broke out and Riggs left. He reportedly returned with a shotgun, broke down the locked apartment door and assaulted a person.
Along with his eluding charge, Riggs pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary while armed with a firearm, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and third-degree assault for shooting at officers.
The Pierce County Force Investigation Team typically investigates police uses of deadly force. But with no one injured by gunfire, Tacoma Police Department officials said Tuesday that PCFIT declined to investigate. Officer Shelbie Boyd, a spokesperson, said the department’s Criminal Investigation Division handled the initial investigation, and after the criminal case wrapped up Monday, the investigation was sent to its Internal Affairs Division.
The police officer who shot at Riggs was John Branham, Boyd said, and he was hired in June 2019. She said Branham was on paid administrative leave for 22 days before returning to duty.
Riggs’ criminal history includes 16 felony convictions in Pierce County between 2000 and 2017, according to court records. His first strike offense occurred in 1997 when he was 26. Records state he sexually assaulted a 2-year-old boy whom he babysat in Tacoma. Riggs was charged with first-degree rape of a child, and he pleaded down to second-degree assault with sexual motivation. Records state he was sentenced to nine months in jail.
His second strike came in 2008 after Riggs fled from Lakewood police in a stolen car and drove directly at an officer who was trying to put tire-deflating “stop sticks” in the roadway. Riggs pleaded guilty to the strike offense of second-degree attempted assault, and he pleaded guilty to attempting to elude pursuing police. He was sentenced to just under four years in prison.
Riggs’ exchange of gunfire with police was one of two incidents in 12 hours where Tacoma police officers were shot at. That afternoon, a detective working with the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force in the city’s South End was shot in the shoulder by a 15-year-old boy running from a stolen car. The teen was charged with second-degree attempted murder, and prosecutors are seeking to charge him as an adult. A hearing is set for April 8.
This story was originally published February 27, 2024 at 11:11 AM.
