Just one Franklin deputy fired fatal shots at fleeing driver. More details of chase released

A sheriff’s deputy was alone when he approached the driver of a stopped car and fired his gun following a high-speed chase in rural Franklin County.

Dante Redmond Jones, 28, was hit several times, but he continued driving for a little over a half-mile before running off the foggy road into a field.

Jones, a former U.S. Marine and Pasco resident, died in the ambulance on his way to a Tri-City hospital.

The Franklin County Sheriff’s Office released new details about the Monday morning shooting — including the deputy’s confrontation with Jones — in a news release sent just before 5 p.m. Friday.

The release does not name the deputy who fired the shots or whether he was out of his patrol car at the time.

The department previously named three deputies who responded to the incident and who are on paid leaving pending the investigation.

Fridays’ release said the first contact with Jones was made at 3:24 a.m. on Sagehill Road near Wahluke Road. Jones had stopped his car in the middle of the roadway.

That was 10 minutes after the same deputy first saw Jones driving north on Sagehill at a high rate of speed and began chasing him.

“The circumstances leading up to the discharging of the deputy’s firearm is unknown at this time as there were no additional witnesses to the incident,” Sheriff Jim Raymond said in the news release.

Two other deputies were in the area helping search for a suspicious vehicle, but they had not yet caught up to the first deputy following Jones, said Raymond.

The sheriff’s office previously said Sgt. Gordon Thomasson and Deputies Andrew Gardner and Cody Quantrell were involved in the incident.

A Tri-City Special Investigations Unit, independent of the sheriff’s office, is investigating the shooting. The three suffered minor injuries and were treated at a hospital before being cleared to go home.

An autopsy Tuesday confirmed that Jones was shot multiple times. Results of blood samples are expected back in two to three weeks.

It has not been disclosed if Jones had a gun.

Suspicious car report

Emergency dispatchers were called at 2:45 a.m. Monday about an occupied vehicle parked in front of a home on West Fir Road.

The caller asked for a sheriff’s deputy to respond because it seemed suspicious, the news release said.

They could not describe the vehicle since it was dark outside, but later relayed to dispatchers that the person had moved the vehicle and parked near a ditch bank as deputies were on their way.

The three deputies responded in separate patrol cars.

It took the first deputy on scene 13 minutes to arrive. Once the other two were there, they drove around the immediate area but could not find the suspicious vehicle.

They reportedly were expanding the search area when one deputy saw a speeding car at Sagehill and Highway 170, which is near Basin City and about 10 miles north of the original suspicious vehicle call.

That was at 3:14 a.m.

The deputy told dispatchers they were trying to stop the car, but that the driver was refusing to stop, the news release said.

According to dispatch traffic available through Broadcastify, deputies reported that Jones was driving recklessly and “trying to brake check” and ram a patrol car.

A deputy, saying Jones had stopped in the road, reported “assault 1” over the radio before saying, “Shots fired. Suspect been hit. He still is continuing northbound.”

Jones’ car abruptly left Sagehill Road near Hendricks Road and drove into a field at 3:25 a.m.

Deputies declared “suspect down” and that paramedics were needed as they gave first aid to Jones.

Raymond said Friday that he’s been told the Special Investigations Unit is making arrangements to interview the three deputies.

SIU investigations into officer-involved shootings can take months before a report is forwarded to both the agency involved and county prosecutors to determine if the use of force was proper.

Raymond has said a separate internal investigation will also be done.

This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 7:43 PM.