Deputy in Hayden shooting identified

Kootenai County Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Sciortino – who was involved in prior shootings as a California police officer – fired the shots that wounded a man in Hayden on March 14, sources close to the investigation say.

The 35-year-old deputy is on paid leave, Kootenai County Sheriff’s Capt. Ben Wolfinger said Wednesday. Wolfinger declined to comment further.

The sheriff’s department has a policy of not identifying officers involved in a shooting until the county prosecutor’s office has reviewed the case and determined whether to file charges. Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas said Tuesday that could take several more weeks.

Sciortino was one of three deputies dispatched to a domestic violence call at 11877 N. Kelly Rae Drive in Hayden the morning of March 14, according to a sheriff’s report obtained by The Spokesman-Review.

The report said 30-year-old Victor Leon Jr., described by deputies as suicidal, was fighting with family members. When Sciortino arrived about 9:44 a.m., the report said, Leon was in the driver’s seat of a gray Dodge pickup truck, and his family members were standing by the driver’s side door “attempting to stop him.”

Leon reportedly began to back up the truck in what Deputy Darrell Oyler described as “a series of reckless maneuvers.” The report says a deputy ordered Leon to get out, and he refused.

He allegedly struck “several vehicles, which included a patrol vehicle,” the report said. The report said “several family members were in harm’s way” and that Leon’s wife was injured.

“Approximately four rounds were fired at Leon by a deputy in defense of the family,” the report said. Leon was shot in the upper torso and then drove off, leading officers on a high-speed chase through Hayden, Dalton Gardens and Coeur d’Alene, then into Shoshone County, the report said.

The chase ended when Leon ran out of gas, according to the report.

Though the report doesn’t name the officer who fired the shots, a news release from the department said the deputy who was first to arrive fired after Leon allegedly struck his patrol car and tried to “hit the deputy with his car.”

Sources close to the investigation confirmed that Sciortino was that officer and that his call number – 2330 – was heard on 911 tapes along with the report of “shots fired.”

Sciortino was one of two deputies who received commendations last May for saving the life of a local woman who had attempted suicide by slashing her throat with a razor.

Though he has been with the sheriff’s department for a little more than a year, Sciortino has not been certified by the Idaho Peace Officers Standards and Training Academy in Meridian, Idaho. Under state law, all law enforcement officers must be POST-certified within 12 months of their hire.

The POST Council on March 2 granted Sciortino a four-week extension, which ends this Saturday, to complete his certification.

The deputy still must pass two written tests, according to the academy. Until then, he has temporary police powers.

Wolfinger said Sciortino is POST-certified in California and will be in Idaho as well.

“I think it’s just a paperwork thing at this point,” he said. “He’s taken the tests” and passed.

According to news reports, Sciortino was shot in the neck and critically injured during a Dec. 30, 1995, traffic stop while he was working for the Riverside (Calif.) Police Department.

Three years later, Sciortino and another Riverside officer shot and killed a man after a short pursuit. The Press-Enterprise newspaper reported that both officers were cleared in the shooting.

The newspaper reported that Sciortino left the Riverside Police Department on a medical retirement. Subsequent news reports and court records show he also worked for the San Jacinto Police Department and Banning Police Department in California.

Sciortino also is the defendant in a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing him and unnamed officers of the San Jacinto Police Department of “a racially motivated campaign of intimidation, harassment, assault, false accusations and false arrest” against a Palestinian family beginning in April 2002 and lasting through May 2003.

Trial in that case has been set for January 2008.