Spokane County deputies shoot and kill driver of stolen car
Deputies shot and killed a man during an exchange of gunfire early Friday morning near Bigelow Gulch Road in Spokane Valley.
The man was suspected of stealing a pickup truck.
Spokane Valley Police chief and undersheriff Dave Ellis said deputies spotted an older orange truck with stolen plates that did not match the truck, just before 3 a.m. Friday. It was sitting on the side of the road off of Euclid Avenue within Spokane city limits. County deputies approached and discovered a man and woman inside the vehicle. The driver fled the scene, and deputies did not pursue.
The truck later was found crashed near Havana Street and Valley Springs Road, Ellis said. The woman was still in the truck, but the male driver was gone. Deputies searched for him using a drone and K9 units, and found him hiding outside a house on Bigelow Gulch Road.
At around 5 a.m., deputies exchanged gunfire with the suspect, who was shot. Deputies provided first aid, but the man died. No deputies were hit. The two deputies who fired their weapons were placed on leave, and their names will be released later, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The man who was killed was a convicted felon and had a warrant out for his arrest for unlawful possession of a firearm, the sheriff’s office said. The Spokane County Medical Examiner’s Office will identify the man at a later date.
The woman with the suspect was being questioned, but had not been detained, as of 9 a.m. Friday.
The Spokane Police Department will lead the investigation.