Suspect Who Attempted to Shoot Deputy Sentenced to 160 Months
UPDATE: This afternoon, the 17-year-old juvenile suspect who attempted to shoot Spokane Valley Deputy Jessie Depriest with a “sawed-off” shotgun last March, was sentenced to 160 months (13.3 years) in Spokane County Superior Court as part of a plea agreement. The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office declined to prosecute Colton B. Singleton, already a convicted felon, as a juvenile and charged him as an adult.
On March 27, 2017, at approximately 10:00 a.m., Spokane Valley Deputies responded to a vehicle prowling in the 15800 block of East Valleyway in Spokane Valley. A description of the suspects was broadcast for the deputies as they arrived in the area.
In the 15800 block of East Sprague, Spokane Valley Deputy Jessie Depriest observed two suspects matching the description broadcast earlier and stopped his marked patrol car to make contact. As the Deputy Depriest exited his vehicle, 22-year-old Ilder E. Vasquez moved toward him as the Singleton pulled a shortened, “pistol grip” style shotgun and pointed it at the deputy. Deputy Depriest moved quickly toward cover as he drew his weapon. Singleton dropped the shotgun before being taken into custody while Vasquez fled the area on foot but was arrested a short time later.
As Singleton was taken into custody he stated, “I forgot to take the safety off.” Singleton was belligerent calling the deputies “F-ing Pigs” (edited) and stated during an interview he didn’t like cops, he did not speak “Pig Latin”, and cops are “F-ing corrupt” (edited).
As part of the plea, Singleton pled guilty to Assault 1st Degree and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm.
Release from March 28, 2017:
UPDATE: Vehicle Prowling Suspect Charged with Attempted Murder 1st Degree;
Sheriff Questions Property Crimes Minimized as “Nonviolent”
The 17-year-old juvenile suspect, a convicted felon who pointed a loaded shortened, “pistol grip” style shotgun at a deputy before dropping it and later stated, he “forgot to take the safety off”, has been charged with Attempted Murder 1st Degree, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Possession of an Unlawful Firearm. The second suspect who ran, 22-year-old Ilder E. Vasquez, is currently being held on warrants for Attempted Burglary 2nd Degree and a Washington Department of Corrections Community Custody Hold will face additional charges stemming from this incident.
The Major Crimes investigation into yesterday’s potentially deadly incident, which began as a vehicle prowling, escalated exponentially when one suspect pulled a loaded shortened, “pistol grip” style shotgun and pointed it at a Spokane Valley Deputy as he exited his fully marked patrol vehicle to make contact. The juvenile suspect appeared to slip, didn’t fire the weapon, and eventually was taken into custody while the second suspect, later identified as Vasquez, ran toward the deputy, veered off and bolted across Sprague Avenue.
As the juvenile suspect who had the shotgun was taken into custody, the deputy told an assisting deputy, “He tried to shoot me.” Just after the deputy completed this statement, the suspect interjected, “I forgot to take the safety off.” The suspect was belligerent calling the deputies “F-ing Pigs” (edited) and stated during an interview, after he was advised of his rights, he didn’t like cops, he did not speak “Pig Latin” and cops are “F-ing corrupt” (edited).
Vasquez was located a short time later hiding inside a building on Cannery Road, south of the scene. Deputy Pfeifer, his K9 partner Enzo and citizens in the area assisted additional deputies with locating Vasquez who was taken into custody without further incident.
Sheriff Knezovich, after being briefed on the details of this incident, stated, “Tell me again how property crimes are non-violent. I am so tired of listening to elected officials in our community tell people property crimes are non-violent in order to justify not fixing our criminal justice system and our jail, or holding these offenders accountable. Fail to deal with the small crimes and they will result in larger crimes.”
He went on to say, “Just because violence wasn’t used during a crime does not mean there isn’t a high potential for violence to happen. These habitual offenders continue to victimize our community knowing that they will not be held accountable. We were lucky today; these “non-violent property offenders” didn’t kill our deputy, not because they didn’t try, but because he couldn’t get his gun to fire. The deputy and his family had an angel sitting on his shoulder today.”
The Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office has declined to prosecute the suspect as a juvenile and will charge him as an adult.
Release from March 27, 2017:
Vehicle Prowling Suspect Points Sawed-Off Shotgun at Deputy
This morning a vehicle prowling call took a very dangerous and potentially fatal turn when a Spokane Valley Deputy approached two suspects in the 15800 block of East Sprague. One of the suspects pulled out a shortened, “pistol grip” style shotgun before dropping it and being taken into custody. Both of the suspects have been arrested, no shots were fired, and thankfully, no one was injured.
This morning at approximately10:00 a.m., Spokane Valley Deputies responded to a vehicle prowling in the 15800 block of East Valleyway in Spokane Valley. A description of the suspects was broadcast for the deputies as they arrived in the area.
In the 15800 block of East Sprague, a deputy observed two suspects matching the description broadcast earlier and stopped his marked patrol car to make contact.
As the deputy exited his vehicle, one suspect moved toward him as the second suspect pulled a shortened, “pistol grip” style shotgun and pointed it at the deputy. The deputy moved quickly toward cover as he drew his weapon. The suspect appeared to slip and dropped the shotgun before being taken into custody while the other suspect fled the area on foot.
A perimeter was quickly established as several deputies responded to assist. K9 Deputy Pfeifer and his partner K9 Enzo tracked toward a building north of 4th Street on Cannery Road where the suspect was located and taken into custody.
Major Crime Detectives were called to the scene to continue the investigation and are currently conducting interview.
Updated information will be released, including the charges for the suspects, when appropriate to do so.
Deputy Mark Gregory
Spokane County Sheriff’s Office
Spokane Valley Police Department
Public Information Officer