Cop says ramming armed suspect was the ‘right thing’ to do

We are going inside the brain of an Arizona police officer who made a split-second decision to run over an armed suspect with his patrol car. In a newly released interview, the Marana police officer says from his seat, he only had two options and he chose the best one.

Officer Michael Rapiejko remained calm as he explained why he did what he did. He thought had a bystander been close by, he or she wouldn’t have had a chance if the suspect had anything to do with it, and firing a round would have been too risky, so he decided to hit him.

In the dramatic dash cam video, Marana Police Officer Dan Rowen is heard reacting to Rapiejko’s split-second decision to hit armed suspect Mario Valencia. Now, we know why, as we hear Rapiejko’s explanation in police inquiry tapes just released by the Marana Police Department.

“So he’s refused commands, he’s holding what I believe to be a locked and loaded rifle, based on the transmission that he’s fired a round into the air,” Rapiejko said in the interview. “There’s occupied businesses. There’s two other officers at the end of the street. This is what I deemed at this point to be a lethal force encounter,” he said.

Rapiejko said he thought a 50-yard shot would be too dangerous, especially with occupied businesses and other officers nearby, so he decided to use his cruiser to stop the threat.

“I accelerate towards him and strike him from behind,” Rapiejko said. “He hits my bumper probably just left of my push bar. His upper body strikes the windshield, and the rifle goes up in the air.”

Valencia was not seriously injured. Rowen was the original officer who repeatedly told Valencia to drop his weapon. He said when Valencia held the firearm to his own chin, he backed off the pursuit. At that point, the video shows Rapiejko take charge.

“Everything works out for a reason. If a person was walking close to him, I do believe he would have taken them as a hostage or taken them out if we didn’t do the right thing,” Rowen said.

Marana police say Rapiejko’s actions were heroic. The Pima County Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against him, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove Rapiejko had criminal intent when he struck Valencia.