EXCLUSIVE | New details released on Franklin deputies chase that left 2 dead

The last thing Karli Moore asked her dad for was a milkshake.

But she died before she got to drink it.

Joe Moore had the ice cream in his car when he was returning to his home on May 9. Along the way, he passed a car crash.

Soon after he learned that his 23-year-old daughter was killed in the wreck.

She was riding in the car when the driver fled at speeds up to 100 mph from two Franklin County sheriff’s deputies. The driver nearly hit other traffic head-on before pulling out in front of a semi truck on Highway 395.

Moore was killed instantly and the driver the next day.

Now, nearly three months later, the Washington State Patrol is still investigating what happened, and all her dad is left with are memories, frustration and questions.

“That day runs in a loop in my brain all day,” Moore said. “I’m frustrated that they got called for a suspicious vehicle and my daughter ended up dead.”

Until now, little had been released about what led up to the deaths of Karli Moore and Ricky G. Cruz-Perez, 28.

The WSP’s Major Accident Investigative Team is expected to wrap up its investigation soon but it recently released some of its investigation to the Tri-City Herald as part of a state Public Records Act request.

It began with a 911 call to report some suspicious activity about 3:40 p.m. just outside the Pasco city limits.

Suspicious car

Franklin County Deputy Mona Bolanos was sent by dispatchers to investigate a suspicious car on Foster Wells Road.

An unnamed caller saw a white sedan with black stripes parked along the road in some weeds next to a shop.

The sedan had been there for an hour and a half and then a light blue Honda had stopped, a man got out and talked to the driver of the white car.

The caller thought they were using drugs or dealing them, said the sheriff’s reports.

Investigators would later learn that the driver was Cruz-Perez and that he was parked on the Moores’ property.

When Deputy Bolanos arrived she saw two men standing outside the white Hyundai Elantra.

As she got closer, she saw Cruz-Perez get into the white car and the other man, who was never identified, climb into the blue car and drive away.

What police didn’t know at the time was that Karli Moore was in the front passenger seat of the Elantra.

“I walked over to the driver’s window; as I reached the window to knock, the car took off; it sped off at a high rate of speed, heading west on E. Foster Wells Road,” Deputy Bolanos wrote in her report.

Bolanos called dispatchers to give the license plate number and then started following it.

Deputy pursuit

Sheriff’s Deputy Jack Dodson was coming from the opposite direction on Foster Wells Road to back up Deputy Bolanos.

As he was heading east, he saw the Elantra at the top of a hill going west, according to his report. He could see Cruz-Perez quickly coming up behind another vehicle heading west.

The deputy believed Cruz-Perez was going to pass the slower vehicle or hit it from behind, or hit the sheriff’s car head-on.

To avoid a crash, Deputy Dodson pulled off to the side of the road. Then he turned and followed the Elantra, activating his lights and siren.

It’s not clear from the initial reports when Deputy Bolanos caught up, but soon both deputies were pursuing Cruz-Perez.

“As we traveled west on East Foster Wells Road, I observed the vehicle traveling in the eastbound lane,” Deputy Dodson wrote. “I backed off while still pursuing the vehicle.”

When Cruz-Perez nearly hit another pickup head-on in the eastbound lane near Capitol Avenue.

Deputy Bolanos reported that the Elantra was going more than 100 mph toward the intersection with Highway 395.

Deputy Dodson, who was in the lead behind the Elantra, said he “slowed significantly” as he reached the top of the hill leading into the highway intersection. Deputy Bolanos said she did the same.

But Cruz-Perez continued barreling toward the busy highway, they said.

Highway crash

He ran the stop sign and forced northbound traffic to stop. But as he drove into the southbound lanes, he pulled directly into the path of a semi truck and trailer.

The truck slammed into the passenger’s side of the car, killing Moore instantly. Cruz-Perez was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, then flown to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.

He died the next day.

The deputies had pursued the Elantra for 3 miles from Moore’s property to Highway 395.

Franklin County Sheriff Jim Raymond asked the special Washington State Patrol team that reviews crashes involving law enforcement officers to investigate.

The report will go to the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office to review. Prosecutor Shawn Sant said he has not received the WSP reports yet.

Starting on July 25, a new state law put limits on police chases but it will not apply in this case.

The law says officers only can chase a car if the suspect is:

• Currently committing a violent, sex or escape offense or is wanted for a similar crime.
• Believed to be driving under the influence.

As officers investigated, they learned Cruz-Perez had run from a traffic stop in Pasco on May 3. He had convictions for escaping probation and trafficking in stolen property nearly 11 years earlier and had been extradited to Oregon twice for failing to come to court.

And while blood samples were taken from Cruz-Perez and Moore after the crash, the results were not included in the initial reports released to the Herald and there was nothing else in the reports indicating they were using drugs at the time.

Crash scene

Joe Moore told the Herald he had passed the crash site as he was heading home. Soon he started worrying about Karli and returned.

At the highway, he walked up to officers and said he feared his daughter was in the car. He identified her at the scene.

He admitted to the Herald that his daughter suffered from previous addiction issues and had been successful in getting treatment.

When he took her to Yakima for regular appointments, it was their time together.

“We got to talk things through and make a plan for the future,” he said.

The agricultural chemical applicator said his daughter was staying him and helped him move equipment.

He described her as an avid reader who loved animals and music and a beautiful and gifted child. She attended Pasco’s highly-capable student program and graduated from New Horizons High School.

Joe Moore said he finds the circumstances of the May 9 deputy chase ridiculous, noting that the deputies didn’t know who they were chasing.

“It’s an extremely sad situation,” he said.

This story was originally published August 16, 2021 at 5:00 AM.