TUCSON, Ariz. • Dramatic dash-cam videos of an arrest in Arizona put the public in the driver’s seat as an officer plows his cruiser into a rifle-toting robbery suspect. Policing experts on Wednesday called the officer’s tactics unconventional and outrageous, but justified.
The images police released Tuesday provoked intense responses among thousands of people after they were posted on the Internet, providing a new angle to the national debate over how police officers use force. Some expressed outrage, accusing the officer of unnecessarily using deadly force. Others said he deserves a medal for disarming an active shooter with his car.
Prosecutors cleared Marana police Officer Michael Rapiejko of any wrongdoing after he swerved around another officer who had been cautiously tailing the robbery suspect, accelerated and rammed into the man’s back on Feb. 19.
The videos show Mario Valencia, 36, cart-wheeling through the air in the instant before the cruiser slams into a retaining wall.
Police say the officer brought an abrupt end to a violent crime spree by Valencia, who allegedly threatened police with a stolen hunting rifle and fired a shot moments before the crash. Valencia allegedly stole the rifle from a Walmart after trying to set a church on fire, invading a home and stealing a car.
Experts in police training and tactics say the video illustrates the split-second decisions officers must make in life-or-death situations, and appeared to be completely justified considering that an erratic suspect was firing a long-range weapon.
Still, they call it anything but a textbook maneuver — and one that police chiefs everywhere should tell their officers not to copy.
Valencia survived the crash, apparently without suffering serious injury. So did the officer, who was cleared by the Pima County Attorney’s office. Valencia faces several felony charges.
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