A convicted felon and suspect in an assault at a West End apartment complex fled from Tacoma police at high speed Wednesday, according to court documents, firing a shotgun several times while trying to elude officers.
Prosecutors charged Scott Joseph Riggs, 49, with first-degree assault, drive-by shooting, first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle for the early morning pursuit and shooting.
Pleas of not guilty were entered on the defendant's behalf at arraignment Friday afternoon in Pierce County Superior Court. Pro Tem Commissioner Meagan Foley set bail at $1.5 million.
Charging papers allege that Riggs raced north on Pearl Street sometime after 3:15 a.m. in an Audi A5, hitting speeds of 100-110 mph while multiple patrol cars chased him. The pursuit reportedly slowed as he entered a residential neighborhood near North 31st Street, and he allegedly tossed a box from his car containing narcotics before firing three gunshots.
The Tacoma Police Department said the man crashed into a parked car at 3300 North Stevens St., and according to the declaration for determination of probable cause, an officer shot at him with a rifle when he exited the vehicle holding the shotgun. The officer missed and Riggs ran, allegedly dropping his firearm in a bush. Eventually, officers working near 3300 North Orchard Street detained him.
No one was struck by gunfire during the incident, and the police department is handling the investigation into the shooting. The Pierce County Force Investigation Team typically investigates law enforcement's use of deadly force, but police said it consulted with the team, and it will conduct its own investigations in this case.
According to court records, Riggs has 13 prior felony convictions, and he had an outstanding arrest warrant for escape from community custody based on a prior offense of failure to register as a sex offender. Records state he was convicted of second-degree assault with sexual motivation in 2000 and attempted second-degree assault in 2008, both listed as serious offenses under the state's "three-strike law." A conviction on his current charges would mean he'd face a sentence of life in prison without possibility of parole.
The shooting was the first of two incidents Wednesday where Tacoma officers were shot at. In the second, police said a detective working as part of the Puget Sound Auto Theft Task Force was shot in the shoulder when he and other officers stopped a vehicle driving erratically in the South End. The detective's injuries weren't life threatening, and police arrested two teenagers on suspicion of attempted murder. They are expected to be arraigned Monday.
Officer Shelbie Boyd, a TPD spokesperson, said Thursday that it's a rough time for the department's officers. She said a psychologist was on hand to talk with them, and an assistant chief was expected to be at all shift turnouts where officers exchange information on patrol activity and investigations.
"We always know that there's the potential to lose your life in the line of duty, but two officers we almost lost in 12 hours," Boyd said. "So yeah, we're feeling it."
In an interview with detectives, Riggs allegedly admitted to firing the shotgun out of the window of the Audi, but he was adamant that he didn't intend to shoot at officers, according to the probable cause document. Prosecutors said a police report states Riggs couldn't explain why he was shooting or what he was shooting at.
Riggs initially claimed another person was in the car with him, records state, but detectives told him officers didn't see anyone else flee from it when it crashed. Riggs allegedly said the other person must have jumped out of the moving car, and it was that person who fired the first gunshot. According to the probable cause document, investigators found shell casings on the driver's side floorboard of the car and unfired shotgun shells in the door pocket.
Prosecutors wrote in the charging papers that the assault Riggs was a suspect in is still under investigation. Officers reportedly had probable cause to arrest him for first-degree assault, burglary and two counts of felony harassment when officers tried to pull him over after 3:15 a.m.
Riggs had reportedly been helping a tenant move out of an apartment in the 5700 block of North 33rd Street, according the probable cause document and police. The apartment's occupants reported that a disturbance broke out and Riggs left. They locked their doors, but he allegedly returned armed with a shotgun and broke it down, then assaulted a person with brass knuckles, and threatened to kill two other people before leaving.
