Posted on 06/04/2020 5:05:41 AM PDT by Uncle Miltie
Investigators on Thursday released details about what led a Lakewood police officer to fatally shoot a man during a traffic stop earlier this month.
Said Joquin, 26, was pulled over May 1 after allegedly running a stop sign at Whitman Avenue Southwest and Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest.
A Lakewood officer had to brake to avoid hitting Joquin’s vehicle.
That officer and another traveling in a different direction pulled over Joquin in the 6400 block of Steilacoom Boulevard.
As police approached the car, officer Mike Wiley said he noticed a gun on the driver’s side floorboard.
The officers requested backup and ordered Joquin and his passenger to keep their hands up.
“However, a few minutes into the incident, the driver lowered his arms, causing the primary officer to believe the subject was reaching for the firearm,” according to a statement by investigators.
Wiley fired several times, striking Joquin.
Joquin was taken to a local hospital, where he died.
The passenger was not injured.
A gun was recovered from Joquin’s vehicle, investigators said.
The Cooperative Cities Crime Response Unit is continuing its investigation, which will be turned over to the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office within weeks.
Wiley remains on paid administrative leave, which is standard after an officer-involved shooting.
He has been a law enforcement officer for 18 years.
This is at least the second officer-involved shooting he has been involved with since joining the Lakewood Police Department in October 2004.
Wiley was one of three officers named in a wrongful death suit in the 2013 death of a Fife man, who was killed by a sniper while clutching his 4-year-old son in a SWAT standoff.
A jury in U.S. District Court found police committed 14 civil rights violations that night, including excessive force.
Wiley’s actions in the standoff, which included leading an assault team that blew down the back door of the home and killing the family dog, were singled out in the ruling as being particularly egregious and leading to the Fife man’s unnecessary death.
The man’s family was awarded $12.5 million to settle the suit.
It's been 30 years since I lived in the Puget Sound and I avoided Tacoma. I remember everyone saying to stay out of the Hilltop District. Is Lakewood near the Hilltop?
When pulled over, do not do a lot of shuffling around in the car, like getting registration out of glove box, etc.
If night, turn on car dome lights.
If rear windows are tinted roll them down.
Keep your hands on the steering wheel.
When the officer asks you to do something, tell him what you are going to do in response.
Move slowly.
Do your best to answer his questions directly but without incriminating yourself.
I have been pulled over a few time in the last 20 years but have always ended up with just a warning, having done the stuff above.
I haven’t been pulled over in 15 years.
If only I could have managed the same when I was a teenager.
Poor dog.
I was siding with the cop, but if he was involved in killing a dog, then he must be no good. (NO sarc tag). I like dogs better than most people.
Is Lakewood near the Hilltop?
In the 25 yrs I’ve carried, I think maybe 3 times. We moved out of Memphis to the next county, safer and a whole less crime. Most of the people I see walking for exercise carry because people just turn out their dogs, little ones are not the issue, those Pit mixes are.
Ours are 12 lbs and have a large back yard. Degenerative spine put a end to walking far about 7 yrs ago.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.