Marana police videos bring worldwide attention

Newly released videos of a police officer ramming an armed man with his patrol vehicle have put Marana police under scrutiny over the officer’s use of force.

Marana’s police chief defended Officer Michael Rapiejko’s actions in February when he drove past another patrol car to strike Mario Miranda Valencia, 36, who was being pursued in connection with numerous crimes across the Tucson area.

“Somebody had to take action,” Chief Terry Rozema said Wednesday. “We had an officer who saw an opportunity and seized the opportunity to take the suspect out.”

Marana police released two videos taken from officers’ dash cameras, one of which was taken from Rapiejko’s vehicle. The video from Rapiejko’s camera ends with an image of a shattered windshield after Valencia is struck and the patrol car hits a wall.

The videos have spread quickly on the Internet and attracted worldwide media attention. The exposure garnered mixed responses, among which were praises for Rapiejko and concerns about excessive use of force.

Though the Marana police chief argued the officer’s actions in ramming the suspect were justified and necessary, an expert in police enforcement called the tactic “risky” and “unorthodox.”

On Feb. 19, Marana police were pursuing Valencia, who was wanted in connection with several crimes, including an armed robbery, home invasion, starting a fire at a church and stealing a car, said Sgt. Chris Warren, a Marana police spokesman.

Valencia ended up at a Marana Walmart, at 8280 N. Cortaro Road near Interstate 10, where he reportedly stole a rifle that he fired into the air as he walked toward nearby businesses.

He put the gun to his head and refused to drop the firearm, as seen on video. Then he began walking toward a Coca-Cola facility, where police said several hundred employees were working.

The dash cam video showed Valencia walking on the road when a patrol vehicle speeds toward him past another patrol car and strikes him. His body is seen flying into the air upon impact.

He was treated at a hospital two days for his injuries.

Valencia was booked into jail and is facing charges of discharging a firearm in city limits, aggravated assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon and shoplifting involving a firearm, according to Marana police. He remained in the Pima County jail as of Wednesday.

His attorney, Michelle Cohen-Metzger, could not be reached for comment. However, she told The Associated Press: “In watching the video, I think it was clear that it was not the appropriate action and that my client was not threatening to anybody except for himself.”

Valencia had to be stopped that day, Rozema said. “This ended about as good as it could have possibly ended.”

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Using a vehicle to stop a suspect is not unprecedented, he said. It’s used “fairly commonly” in vehicle pursuit situations, though he added there would be a special board of inquiry to review the incident.

The suspect posed a clear danger to the public, Rozema said, and deadly force had to be used. “If this exact scenario were to play out again, I don’t think the use of vehicle is a bad option,” he said.

A car is not typically an approved weapon for a police officer to use in a deadly manner, said Charles Drago, a use-of-force expert and former chief of the Oviedo City Police Department in Florida with more than 30 years of law enforcement experience.

“Tactically speaking, it’s a bad way to approach taking down a suspect,” he said. “That was a highly risky, unorthodox use of force by that officer that ran him over.”

Using vehicles as a deadly weapon is problematic for many reasons, he said. For one thing, officers would not be able to warn a suspect properly prior to using deadly force. Secondly, vehicles are not meant to be used as deadly weapons with any degree of accuracy.

By choosing to run over the man, he not only risked Valencia’s life but his own as well, Drago said.

It also appeared that officers were setting up around Valencia, getting ready to take him down the “right way” by establishing a perimeter when Rapiejko “drove into the middle of everything,” he said.

“It was certainly reasonable to use deadly force in the situation,” he said. “But from a police procedures perspective, that was all bad to move in the way he did and take the approach that he did.”

Rapiejko was put on administrative leave for three days after the incident, as is protocol, Rozema said. The incident was treated the same way as an officer-involved shooting.

He was given appropriate time to decompress and required to visit with a police psychologist. He was cleared by the psychologist to return to duty.

The Pima County Attorney’s Office declined to prosecute Rapiejko. Prosecutors routinely review cases of law enforcement using deadly force to determine if an officer’s actions were justified.

Rapiejko was hired at the Marana Police Department in January 2014, according to Warren. Before that, he was employed by the Tucson Police Department and the New York Police Department. He has about 10 years of law enforcement experience.

At TPD, Rapiejko was never the focus of any criminal investigation, according to Sgt. Pete Dugan, a Tucson police spokesman. It was not immediately known whether he received any complaints or reprimands regarding the use of force while he was with the department.

In Marana, he had no history of discipline or use-of-force complaints, Warren said. Rather, he received an award in January for creating a new fitness program for fellow officers.