The Multnomah County district attorney says Vancouver police officers were justified in using deadly force during a high-speed interstate chase earlier this year.
The Feb. 5 pursuit began in Vancouver when officers stopped a pickup and identified Erkinson Bossy, who was wanted in the Jan. 22 murder of a Kelso, Washington, convenience store clerk.
As officers tried to box in the truck and arrest Bossy, he jumped in the driver's seat and sped away, triggering a chase that wound from Vancouver to Portland along Interstates 205 and 84. It ended when a Vancouver officer used what's known as a "pursuit intervention technique," essentially using his own car to bump the truck and force it to stop.
Related: Portion Of I-84 In Portland Reopens Following Police Chase In Convenience Store Killing
A Vancouver officer fired 41 rounds from a rifle through the windshield of the patrol car during the chase.
Prosecutors say the officer believed they saw Bossy, who they suspected had a gun in the truck, shoot at them: “He saw what he described as puffs of glass coming from the passenger compartment of the truck which, based on his experience as a combat veteran, appeared to be compression bursts from gunfire coming from inside.”
Prosecutors say the officer waited until “he had a safe backdrop of woods and trees beyond the bending roadway” to fire.
Investigators found a loaded gun in the truck but no evidence it was fired at the pursuing officers. One officer in the patrol car was injured by broken glass.
Bossy was injured when he tried to jump out of the truck while it was still moving. He has pleaded not guilty in the Kelso killing.
Multnomah County District Attorney Rod Underhill could have referred the car chase to a grand jury, but declined. Oregon law allows police to use deadly force when they believe it’s necessary to defend themselves or someone else.