Body cam video shows Pasco police attack that led to deadly living room shooting

Pasco police went public Friday with body-worn camera footage and emergency dispatch audio from a deadly officer-involved shooting.

The release came exactly two months after Alejandro Betancourt-Mendoza was killed in a confrontation with police.

Chief Ken Roske started off the 10-minute YouTube video, telling viewers they will “hear relevant information and learn about details we know are related to this case so you have a better understanding of what occurred.”

Roske cautioned that the footage may be disturbing to watch.

“Our officers often respond to rapidly evolving, dangerous situations, and (in) an overwhelming majority of those incidents, the officers resolve them peacefully,” said the chief. “When a police officers uses force to arrest a suspect or to defend against an attack, it can be graphic and difficult to watch.”

Officers had been called to a North 18th Drive home at 8 p.m. Dec. 14 for reports of a theft.

The 18-year-old was shot after he stabbed two of the three responding officers. He died that night from several gunshot wounds.

His older cousin, Martin Mendoza, has been charged with interfering in the arrest and assaulting the officers.

Officers Kierra Peoples and Ben Boykin survived their stab wounds. Peoples applied a tourniquet on Boykin’s severely cut arm and then drove them to the hospital.

Pending the investigation, both were placed on administrative leave, along with Officer Jason Griffin, as part of standard procedures.

Independent criminal investigation

The criminal investigation is being handled by the Tri-City Special Investigations Unit. The team in this case includes specially trained detectives from other law enforcement agencies.

Pasco police have not been involved in it, though Roske said his department will conduct an administrative investigation, separate and independent of the SIU unit, to examine policies and procedures related to the case.

The findings of the internal investigation will be reported to the chief, while the SIU’s findings will initially go to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office for review.

The SIU investigation can take months to complete.

Pasco is the only agency with body cameras and only one of two in the area with in-car dash cameras.

The release of footage from Pasco’s officer-involved shooting comes five days after Kennewick police shot and killed a father of six.

Officers say Gordon Whitaker, 45, pulled out a gun as they were trying to detain him late Sunday night. The SIU, which also is handling that investigation, issued a news release earlier this week saying a handgun was found at the scene.

And in November, a sheriff’s deputy in rural Franklin County approached the driver of a stopped car following a high-speed chase and shot at Dante Redmond Jones several times.

Jones, a former U.S. Marine and Pasco resident, drove off for a little over a half-mile before coming to a stop in a field. He died in an ambulance.

This story was originally published February 14, 2020 at 5:58 PM.