.jpg){kind=small}
The South Dakota Attorney General says Highway Patrol Trooper Andrew Steen and two other law enforcement officers were justified in shooting at 25-year-old Rachel Coleman during a pursuit last month.
The Attorney General's Office released a report detailing the events of the night Steen was run over. He remains hospitalized as he recovers from a traumatic brain injury.
The report says that just after 2:30 a.m. On October 17, Steen tried to pull Coleman over for erratic driving. Coleman wouldn't stop and led authorities on a pursuit that reached speeds of 80 to 90 miles per hour. The pursuit ended up in the parking lot of the strip mall at the corner of 57th Street and Western Avenue where Coleman hit Steen's vehicle twice. That's when Steen got out and yelled at Coleman to stop.
According to the report, Coleman accelerated and Steen fired at Coleman's vehicle. Coleman narrowly missed Steen and Trooper Shannon Orth's vehicle and hit a business. Steen then ran toward the car yelling at Coleman to stop. The report says she accelerated again and Steen started firing his gun again.
Coleman hit Steen, sending him onto the hood of her car. Lincoln County Deputy Tom Krull was near one of the entrances of the parking lot and after hearing the radio traffic of 'Officer Down,' he fired his weapon 14 times as Coleman left the parking lot driving at about 30 miles per hour. The report says that Trooper Steen, Lincoln County Deputy Aaron Bartscher and Deputy Krull fired a total of 23 rounds from their guns.
Coleman was hit three times: once in her back, another in her arm and another bullet fell out of her clothes when she was arrested. Four hours after she was arrested the report says she had a Blood Alcohol Level of .079, which is just below the legal limit. Coleman is in jail facing attempted murder and other charges.
Review the report into the October 17 incident online.
Comments