Posted: 1/17/2007 5:30:06 AM EDT
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Cops shoot at SUV as it rams cruiser By Dale Quinn arizona daily star Tucson, Arizona | Published: 01.17.2007 Two Tucson police officers fired at the driver of a stolen SUV Tuesday morning as he backed toward their patrol cars, a Tucson Police Department spokeswoman said. The officers hit the vehicle but missed the driver. The officers were not injured. Joseph Gomez, 26, was arrested in a nearby used-car lot. A woman also fled from the truck and has not been found, police Lt. Vicki Reza said. The shooting occurred as officers were trying to stop a stolen Ford Explorer at a Circle K at South 12th Avenue and West Ajo Way shortly after midnight, Reza said. Officers Martin Escobar and Veronica Morken learned the car was stolen after checking its license plate when Gomez ran a stop sign. The officers then followed the Explorer to a nearby Circle K. The driver, who was outside the vehicle in the parking lot, did not obey the officers' commands as they tried to detain him. Instead he got back into the SUV, put it in reverse and with tires screeching rammed into the right fender of one of the police cars, Reza said. The officers shot at the man before he hit one of the patrol cars, Reza said. "They both felt that their lives were threatened," Reza said. The officers are on paid leave, as is standard procedure when officers fie their weapon. The man ran over a curb, hit a boulder and knocked over a utility pole while driving backward away from the officers. Backup Officers Thomas Gutierrez and David Kleinlein located the vehicle at a used-car business nearby, Reza said. Gomez then bailed out of the Explorer and jumped a fence into the used-car lot. The backup officers followed and detained him. As they took Gomez into custody, a Rottweiler guarding the car lot charged the officers, and Gutierrez shot it. The dog was taken to a veterinarian with minor injuries and is expected to survive, Reza said. Gomez, of the 2300 block of South 10th Avenue, was booked into Pima County jail on suspicion of two counts of aggravated assault against a peace officer, one count of theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, according to court records. ● Contact reporter Dale Quinn at 629-9412 or [email protected]. $1 Sunday delivery - Subscribe to the Arizona Daily Star 
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