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A Mesa police officer on Sunday night shot at two people who police say were driving at the officer and then fled.
While they remained outstanding throughout the night, their vehicle was located early Monday morning and both the driver and passenger were taken into custody, said Mesa police spokesperson Det. Brandi George. Neither was identified.
The driver was later taken to a hospital for “personal medical reasons” but was expected to be interviewed and booked into jail upon release, George said. The passenger was also being interviewed by police.
Officers just after 7 p.m. Sunday initially responded to an apartment complex near Eighth Avenue and Alma School Road for a welfare check on a vehicle that was running for at least six hours while parked under covered parking, George said.
Police at the scene found two people inside the vehicle who appeared to be “passed out,” George said. Both people were slumped over inside and it took “some time” for officers to wake them, George later added.
They were not believed to be experiencing homelessness, according to George.
They were able to wake the driver, who then reversed into a police vehicle behind them, George said. The suspect vehicle then drove over a sidewalk and attempted to leave the complex as one of the officers followed in their vehicle.
The officer at one point exited his vehicle and the suspect vehicle turned around a short time later, driving at the officer, George said. The officer then responded by shooting at the vehicle, according to George.
The suspect vehicle ultimately fled the area and was not located until early Monday morning, George said.
No officers were injured during the incident, George said.
George later explained that it was not illegal for someone to sleep in a vehicle in Mesa so long as certain factors were met. For example, the vehicle could not obstruct a public roadway nor could it trespass on private property.
George also said impairment is always suspected in cases where a driver may be sleeping or “passed out” behind the wheel of a running vehicle. In the specific incident on Sunday, however, blood work was obtained to determine if impairment was a factor and those results weren’t readily available on Monday, George said.
A six-month analysis by The Arizona Republic revealed police statewide not only shot people more times in the first half of 2021 than they did in the same time span the last two years, but more of those shootings were fatal.
Reach the reporter at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @curtis_chels.
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