On Wednesday the Yakima County Sheriff’s Office began searching for a green Honda Civic after receiving a call the car had been stolen.
On Highway 12 near Gleed at approximately 4:17 p.m, responding deputies located the vehicle, which was being driven by 27-year-old Anthony Laviolette of Naches.
Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, when Laviolette reportedly fled east towards Yakima reaching speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.
A reporting party said they were following the suspect vehicle, a green Honda Civic headed towards Naches but had lost the vehicle when it left the main roadway onto an unknown road.
Deputies were pursuing Laviolette when he attempted to turn onto Ackley Rd. from Highway 12. The vehicle failed to make the turn and left the roadway coming to rest on the wheels against a fence.
Deputies approached the vehicle ordering the driver to shut the car off. The driver continued to rev the motor and backed away from the fence and turned trying to drive back towards the highway.
Deputy Matt Steadman, a 23 year veteran of the Sheriff's Office who is currently assigned to the patrol division, came towards the vehicle as Laviolette accelerated and drove towards him.
Fearing for his safety, Steadman fired several shots at Laviolette while he was struck and knocked to the ground by the car.
Laviolette suffered a gunshot wound and was pronounced deceased at the scene. Yakima County's coroner Jack Hawkins says Laviolette died of a gunshot wound to the chest and was hit by multiple bullets.
As part of the sheriff's office policy, Steadman has been placed on administrative until he is cleared to come back to work by a physician, and an administrative review of his use of force is concluded.
A second deputy at the scene of the shooting and a third who arrived shortly after, are also on administrative leave and will return to work after their days off.
Professional services are available to them as requested. The three deputies will attend a mandatory critical incident debriefing in the near future.
The two other occupants of the suspect vehicle, a 27 year old female and a 14 year old were not injured and were taken into custody for investigation related to the theft.
The Washington State Patrol is conducting the criminal investigation of the vehicle accident, assault on the deputy and the shooting of the suspect.
The Yakima County Sheriff’s office is conducting a criminal investigation concerning the initial reported theft of the vehicle driven by the deceased suspect.
The Yakima CSO is also conducting a parallel administrative investigation for internal purposes.
