In brief: Taser failed to stop chase

A deputy’s Taser failed to stop a foot chase that ended instead in a fatal shooting Monday in Okanogan County, the sheriff said Wednesday.

Sheriff Frank Rogers said it was unclear why the Taser did not shock Bradley L. Behrens.

Monday’s shooting began after five teenagers stole two cars and raced them down rural roads near Omak, ramming them into each other and causing one of the vehicles to roll over, Rogers said. Behrens, 18, of Okanogan, crashed the second vehicle in an orchard several miles outside Omak. Police spotted him when he returned to town, and he ran, Rogers said.

During the chase, sheriff’s Deputy Tony Hawley tried to Taser him, but Behrens grabbed a pistol from his waistband and kept running, Rogers said.

Behrens stopped in a residential yard and pointed the gun at Hawley, who shot once, killing Behrens, said Rogers.

A 16-year-old girl injured in the rollover crash was treated and released. She and a 16-year-old boy have not been booked into juvenile detention, Rogers said.

Martin A. Aguilar and Justin A. Lambert, both 18 and of Okanogan, face charges of first-degree robbery, reckless driving, possession of stolen property and two counts of second-degree theft. Aguilar also faces a charge of resisting arrest, Rogers said.

Missoula

Plane lands safely after lightning hit

A Horizon Air passenger plane was struck by lightning as it was flying into Missoula from Seattle but landed safely with no injuries.

“Lightning hit the left prop, but it didn’t damage anything obvious,” Missoula International Airport Director Cris Jensen said Wednesday. “Without somebody pointing out the damage to me, I couldn’t even see it.”

Horizon Flight 2396 carried 56 passengers on a Bombardier Aerospace Q-400 high-speed turboprop when it was hit about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The plane was kept in Missoula overnight. It had been scheduled to return to Seattle via Kalispell that evening. Outbound passengers were put on later flights.

Horizon spokeswoman Jen Boyer said the plane would be flown to the company’s maintenance base in Portland. It sustained some damage to a propeller and to its sheet-metal skin.

“Aircraft are designed to take a lightning strike,” Boyer said. “… There’s no way anyone on board was in danger. The electricity goes through the skin (of the plane) and discharges.”

Vancouver, Wash.

Officer injured in standoff

A police officer was wounded Wednesday in a standoff with a man who barricaded himself inside a house and held another man hostage for almost 12 hours, authorities said.

Kim Kapp, of the Vancouver Police Department, said the standoff began around 7:20 a.m. Wednesday, when officers went to a rented home to serve an arrest warrant on 28-year-old Matthew Hastings.

One woman came out of the house, but another man, identified by police as Shane Runyon, was not released until 7 p.m. He had been shot in the abdomen, but police said he was alert on the way to the hospital. Earlier Wednesday, Cpl. Chris LeBlanc, with police special operations, was struck by one round under the arm. His injuries were not life-threatening, said Assistant Police Chief Mitch Barker.

Police continued to negotiate late Wednesday with Hastings, who has a record of convictions dating back to 1998.

From staff and wire reports