Jury convicts Finley man of 2013 crash involving two patrol cars

A Finley man was convicted Friday of plowing his truck into two patrol cars after leading law enforcement officers on a chase that topped 100 mph.

The Benton County Superior Court jury returned guilty verdicts against Shane K. DeWeber, 34, for two counts of second-degree assault and one count of attempting to elude police. The assaults included the aggravating circumstance that the victims were in law enforcement.

DeWeber had been charged with two counts of first-degree assault, but the jury acquitted him on those and opted to go with the lesser crimes.

To prove first-degree assault, prosecutors had to show that DeWeber intended to inflict great bodily harm on Oct. 8, 2013, when he crashed into the parked cars of sheriff’s Sgt. Mathew Clarke and Kennewick Officer Liz Grant.

Clarke and Grant were putting spike strips across Haney Road when they saw DeWeber point his Dodge Ram at their cars on the gravel shoulder. They were hit by flying debris as they ran away, but neither was injured.

DeWeber told jurors that he didn’t recall anything from the time he took about 250 psycho-stimulant pills early that morning to when he later woke up in Trios Health in Kennewick.

He reportedly had a 90-day supply of Adderall prescribed for ADHD, and was found at the hospital to have a fatal level in his blood system.

DeWeber had asked officers to shoot him, and his text messages later showed that he wanted to die “suicide by cop,” Sheriff Steve Keane said at the time.

Deputies were called to the East Bowles Road home of DeWeber’s estranged wife at 4:11 a.m. that morning for reports that he was pounding on her door, trying to get in through a window and acting as though he was under the influence of narcotics.

Responding deputies found DeWeber outside the home. He was armed with a sword and ignored commands to drop the weapon. A deputy tried to stun DeWeber with a Taser but it did nothing.

DeWeber got into his truck and led deputies on a chase down Highway 397 and other roads around Finley, often driving on the wrong side of the road, according to sheriff’s reports and court documents. Law enforcement backed off the pursuit out of concern for the public.

Once DeWeber’s truck catapulted over the two patrol cars, the sheriff’s car landed upside down on top of the Kennewick car.

DeWeber crawled out of his pickup and tried to attack the officers on foot, documents said. He again was hit a couple of times with a Taser with no effect, but eventually was subdued and taken to the hospital to be treated for his injuries from the collision.

DeWeber’s trial started Monday and went to the jury Thursday afternoon. The panel resumed deliberations Friday and reached the verdicts shortly before 5 p.m.

DeWeber was represented by attorney Catherine Harkins of Kennewick.

Deputy Prosecutor Brendan Siefken, who handled the case with colleague Terry Bloor, told the Herald that jurors only spoke to Judge Cameron Mitchell after the trial was done.

Siefken said the judge relayed to the attorneys that jurors “were very complementary about the restraint that law enforcement showed in not shooting Mr. DeWeber.”

DeWeber remains in the Benton County jail on $500,000 bail while awaiting sentencing. His next court date is Feb. 12.

He faces two years and nine months to three years and seven months in state prison on each assault charge, Siefken said. However, prosecutors can ask for an exceptional sentence up to the maximum of 10 years for each count because of the law enforcement factor.

This story was originally published January 30, 2015 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Jury convicts Finley man of 2013 crash involving two patrol cars."