POLICE BRUTALITY CASES: WALTER SCOTT MURDER & MORE

[Blindgreed1]

The asshole was apparently walking down the street randomly firing his weapon

He shot one round into the air but for the most part held the weapon just under his chin.

Then there is the whole "stealing a rifle from a Walmart, leading a home invasion, robbing a convenience store and firing a shot at police with the stolen firearm."
Thing.
Asshole is lucky he didn't get aireated

At 6:45 a.m., Valencia robbed a 7-Eleven in Tucson with a metal object in his hand. Authorities said he was dressed only in his underwear.

A little more than an hour later, police said, Valencia set a fire at a church.

Just after that he entered a home and stole a car, police said.

Authorities said he drove to a Walmart where he stole a .30-30 rifle and ammunition. He fled the store with Walmart employees in pursuit.

I'm not sure why Valencia wasn't stopped by police after his first couple of crimes that day while he was on foot, but I agree that given the threat he posed when he was finally stopped, he's lucky to be alive. He could just have easily been shot to death by police.

Still, this should definitely be looked into as a potential case of excessive force. I would like to know if the officers had other options to neutralize the threat, and if their training covered such situations? I think, as disturbing as it is to watch, the officer's decision to ram Valencia might have been reasonable under the circumstances. The incident happened in February and the DA has decided not to press charges against the driving officer; the DA didn't find requisite criminal intent to charge the officer with aggravated assault.

Anyway, Valencia is out of the hospital and in jail. He's charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of armed robbery and unlawful discharge of a firearm.

They released the walmart footage today. AS he held the rifle he instructed the walmart employee to give him ammo and "don't try anything stupid."