Wasco County deputy fires shots to stop pickup, end chase

A Wasco County sheriff’s deputy fired several shots at a fleeing pickup after a series of police chases in north-central Oregon Thursday afternoon, injuring none of the three occupants, including a 1-year-old boy, but prompting the driver to finally stop and be arrested, Oregon State Police reported.

The investigation shut Highway 197 near Tygh Valley for about four hours Thursday night.

Around 3:20 p.m., an OSP trooper tried to stop a Dodge pickup for speeding on I-84 near milepost 109 westbound in Sherman County, Sgt. Kaipo Raiser said.

The driver later identified as Rudy Foki Paea Fifita, 30, of West Jordan, Utah, failed to stop, and when he cut through the grassy median and began traveling east, OSP discontinued the pursuit.

Around 3:30 p.m., a Sherman County sheriff’s deputy spotted the pickup speeding and tried to pull the driver over near Moro, Raiser said. But Fifita again refused to stop and the deputy discontinued the pursuit, he said.

A short time later, an OSP trooper spotted the pickup, still in Sherman County and headed towards Wasco County. Wasco County sheriff’s deputies and OSP tried to stop the pickup with spike strips at two separate locations, but were unsuccessful, Raiser said. The pickup was seen traveling through Tygh Valley at unsafe speeds, he said, and law enforcement agencies discontinued efforts to stop the vehicle, due to concerns for the public’s safety.

Around 4:25 p.m., a Wasco County deputy found the pickup at a home just off U.S. Highway 197, about four miles south of Tygh Valley, Raiser said.

As the driver tried to get back on the highway, “the deputy fired several rounds at the vehicle with his sidearm,” Raiser said in a news release. The pickup then stopped and Fifita was taken into custody without further incident.

Fifita had two passengers in the pickup, Tiffany Joan Roubmai, 23, of Haiku, Hawaii, and their 1-year-old son, Raiser said. No one was injured during the incident.

Fifita was lodged at the NORCOR Correctional Facility in The Dalles on Sherman County charges, including two counts of attempting to elude police, four counts of recklessly endangering another person and reckless driving. He remained held Friday on $46,000 bail, jail records showed.

Under protocols established by Oregon Senate Bill 111, each county has a specific set of rules by which police shootings are investigated. In Wasco County, those protocols call for the district attorney to name another agency, which in this case was OSP, to head the investigation, with participation from other officers of the county’s Major Crime Team, drawn from the other agencies.

The agency involved in the shooting contributes a single liaison officer, but does not participate in the SB 111 review. “The reason for this is so that there is as much of detached investigation as is possible,” Raiser wrote.

OSP were assisted by the Sherman and Wasco County sheriff’s offices, The Dalles Police, the Sherman and Wasco County DA’s offices, the Oregon Department of Human Services and ODOT.

Raiser said the investigation is ongoing and more information will be released as the investigation allows.