Prosecutor declares Royal shooting "justifiable"

ROYAL CITY - After six weeks of investigation and study of 400 pages of reports and three CDs of crime scene photos, Grant County Prosecutor Angus Lee on Dec. 6 declared "justifiable" the shooting of a suspect by Royal City Police Officer Rey Rodriguez on Oct. 24.

Lee made his decision after reviewing the extensive work of the Columbia Basin Investigative Team, headed by Moses Lake Police Department Detective Sgt. Mike Williams. Lee also made a thorough walk-through of the crime scene with Williams the night of the shooting.

The CBIT included members of the Moses Lake PD, the Grant County Sheriff's Office, the Washington State Patrol, the Ephrata PD, the Othello PD, the Adams County Sheriff's Office, the Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Quincy PD. It was commanded by Capt. Dave Sands of the Moses Lake PD.

The CBIT investigated the shooting of Pedro Salgado Ceja, 45, of Royal City at a trailer park at 200 Hemlock. Salgado Ceja died at the scene, and the CBIT investigation was launched immediately.

Eleven witnesses were contacted during this process. Two watched the entire incident and gave statements. Two witnessed it all but declined to testify.

The other seven witnesses saw only portions of the incident. Another witness, who reportedly saw the whole thing, has avoided authorities.

"We were looking only for what they saw, not what they thought," Williams said.

The CBIT narrative of events is based on evidence and witness testimony. Although there were slight deviations in details, most witness accounts matched.

According to the CBIT, Rodriguez retreated more than 175 feet in an attempt to avoid a shovel attack by Ceja and defuse the situation. Finally, one witness said, it appeared Ceja "was going to get" Rodriguez, and Rodriguez opened fire.

In making his decision, Lee gave weight to the scene of the incident. He determined it limited Rodriguez's options for escape from the attack and his options for response.

"The area of this contact (and that of the entire trailer park) can best be described as very closed, narrow and unsafe for the police officer," Lee said.

"What is unique to this situation was the narrow curving horseshoe shape of the street on which this incident unfolded," he added.

The incident began to unfold when the Royal City Police Department received a call for officer assistance in a domestic situation at the trailer park. Rodriguez, the lone officer on duty, responded.

According to the CBIT, Rodriguez arrived on the scene at 4:51 p.m., not 5:10, as reported earlier. He found Rosa Lopez, 30, "extremely distraught and crying."

Lopez told Rodriguez that Ceja, whom she identified as her husband, had held a knife to her and told her she could not leave the house, the CBIT said. Ceja also threatened to kill Lopez and the couple's two children.

Lopez told Rodriguez she was imprisoned all of the night of Oct. 23, the CBIT said. Rodriguez determined he had probable cause for an arrest but called a Grant County Sheriff's Office supervisor for confirmation.

Then Rodriguez set out to arrest the 6-foot, 206-pound Ceja, the CBIT said. Ceja spoke cordially at first with Rodriguez, the CBIT said, but his demeanor changed when Rodriguez brought up Lopez's claims.

Rodriguez attempted to arrest Ceja at that point. He grabbed Ceja's arm, the CBIT said, and Ceja jerked away. Rodriguez attempted to subdue Ceja with pepper spray, the CBIT said, but Ceja turned away, and Rodriguez didn't use it.

"Officer Rodriguez chose not to deploy his spray onto Ceja's back, believing it would not be effective," the CBIT said.

According to the CBIT, "Ceja then moved away from Rodriguez and picked up a shovel. Ceja turned it around so the blade was up and cocked his arms back as though to swing the shovel. He then began to move toward Rodriguez."

 Rodriguez turned and dashed through a narrow gate to leave the yard and gain distance, the CBIT said. After a short distance, Rodriguez stopped, drew his taser and began giving Ceja verbal commands to stop and put down the shovel. Ceja continued to advance.

Based on his training, the CBIT said, Rodriguez determined that Ceja was out of the effective range of the taser. Faced with the shovel, he holstered the taser and took out his firearm.

According to witnesses, Ceja shouted, "Shoot me, cop" more than once in English. Rodriguez tried to radio for help as he retreated, a witness said.

Rodriguez began to retreat again, trying to get to his patrol car and put it between Ceja and himself. Because of the shape of the street, the CBIT said, Ceja cut off Rodriguez's path to the car.

Rodriguez continued to retreat down the street. But Ceja cut the distance to put Rodriguez in imminent danger.

"With the close  proximity of the suspect and the fact the suspect was rapidly approaching with a deadly weapon while shouting 'shoot me,' attempting to use the taser first would have been an unwise gamble by the officer and would not have guaranteed the safety of either the suspect or the officer," Lee said. "Further, a taser can malfunction, misfire and, at times, fail to penetrate thick winter clothing. The taser was, simply put, not a realistic option for the officer in this situation."

According to a witness who was five meters away, it appeared Ceja "was going to get" Rodriguez when Rodriguez opened fire.

Ceja was 10 feet behind Rodriguez and closing when Rodriguez fired the first round, the CBIT said. Rodriguez saw no reaction from Ceja and fired five more times. Ceja dropped the shovel and fell to the ground. Medical assistance was called, but it was too late.

An autopsy determined that Ceja sustained three penetrating wounds, three perforating wounds and one grazing wound. The CBIT noted one round can make more than one wound.

One bullet struck vehicle in the parking lot, causing minor damage.

In his facts, Lee wrote: "Domestic violence is an emotion-driven crime and is one of the most dangerous to investigate. It is not uncommon for the officer to be seriously attacked when investigating domestic violence."

This case started when a representative of New Hope domestic violence center in Moses Lake called Rodriguez to help remove a woman from danger.