Man who opened fire on SPD in June avoids jail time
Interesting news in yesterday's P.I. on a case that piqued my interest when I first read of it this past summer. Remember that guy who led a trio of undercover police officers on a high speed chase throughout the city, ultimately leading to a shootout near Green Lake?
The driver-in-question, Jesse James Toro II, received his fate from a Superior Court Judge yesterday: surprisingly, he won't have to serve any time behind bars. (Though he was given a one year suspended sentence, and forced to surrender his concealed weapons permit).
This was an exciting case from the get-go: Undercover cops who hadn't identified themselves as such, a mid-summer chase that covered some serious distance across the city, an exchange of gunfire - including shots from a pistol owned by Toro, who like a badass managed to shoot out the tires from his aggressors' SUV and escape unwounded - and the subsequent blame game made this all quite exciting.
Just read this passage and tell me it doesn't read like something from an action movie:
But it seems pretty clear that Toro wouldn't have been so lucky in his sentencing if the details of the case were clearer; not only have there been conflicting reports over how many shots were fired and by who, he claims he had no idea the men shooting at him were SPD. From the P.I.:
The driver-in-question, Jesse James Toro II, received his fate from a Superior Court Judge yesterday: surprisingly, he won't have to serve any time behind bars. (Though he was given a one year suspended sentence, and forced to surrender his concealed weapons permit).
This was an exciting case from the get-go: Undercover cops who hadn't identified themselves as such, a mid-summer chase that covered some serious distance across the city, an exchange of gunfire - including shots from a pistol owned by Toro, who like a badass managed to shoot out the tires from his aggressors' SUV and escape unwounded - and the subsequent blame game made this all quite exciting.
Just read this passage and tell me it doesn't read like something from an action movie:
I've never doubted that Toro handled this case exactly as he should have: if you're being chased through the city by a group of dudes - a group of dudes who you have no idea are police officers - then you have few options but to respond as he did. This could have ended with bad results had he not been packing, and I'd imagine the SPD would still be reeling from the fallout had it ended with any bloodshed.Toro, 29, was behind the wheel of a Cadillac sedan in June when he got into an argument with three plainclothes members of the Seattle Police Department's vice squad. Stopped at a South Lake Union intersection, one of the officers shot Toro's car, and then the officers chased him north.
Having pulled away from the police -- the officers' civilian-style Ford SUV couldn't keep up with the more muscular Cadillac -- Toro stopped his car on a residential street in the Green Lake neighborhood. When the officers reappeared, Toro drew a pistol and shot out their vehicle's front tires.
But it seems pretty clear that Toro wouldn't have been so lucky in his sentencing if the details of the case were clearer; not only have there been conflicting reports over how many shots were fired and by who, he claims he had no idea the men shooting at him were SPD. From the P.I.:
Key facts of the night remain in question. Officers initially said they fired only one shot at Toro's car, missing it and striking a wall. But a bullet hole found in the side of the Cadillac seemed to disprove that.Toro is a lucky guy. I still don't think he should have lost his right to carry a gun; it seems like having a concealed weapon may very well have saved his life in this situation. But at least he has a story for his grandkids. You can probably count the number of Seattle residents who've opened fire on the SPD and walked away, relatively unscathed, to tell about it...and Jesse James Toro has just made it onto the list.
Speaking after he received his sentence Friday, Toro said he believes officers fired at him more than once during the initial altercation. He also believes they shot at him while racing after him on the Aurora Bridge.
"There was a point in the chase when I thought they were going to kill me," Toro said. "I had no idea it was the Seattle police."
