Tri-Cities man admits to interfering in arrest that left his cousin dead, cops stabbed 

A Pasco man will spend four years and two months in prison for interfering in his younger cousin’s arrest, which led to police shooting and killing the teen.

Martin Mendoza claimed he was trying to save his cousin from going back to jail in December 2019 when Mendoza grabbed Pasco Officer Jason Griffin by his bulletproof vest and fought with him.

But the distraction allowed 18-year-old Alejandro Betancourt-Mendoza to break free from two other officers and stab them with a double-edged knife.

Officer Ben Boykin responded with two shots at Betancourt-Mendoza’s torso to immediately stop the assault. The teen died that night from his gunshot wounds.

Police initially responded to the North 18th Drive home that night for reports of a theft involving Betancourt-Mendoza.

Mendoza, who had been in a back bedroom when officers arrived, said after the shooting he was “sorry” for his actions, even though he continued to fight with Griffin.

4 felony charges

He finally backed off when Griffin warned he would shoot Mendoza as he tried to grab for his cousin’s dropped knife.

Detectives with the Tri-City Special Investigations Unit had concluded that Betancourt-Mendoza might still be alive if it weren’t for Mendoza’s interference.

Mendoza pleaded guilty in September to second-degree manslaughter and three counts of third-degree assault — one count for each officer involved in the deadly confrontation.

The manslaughter is for causing Betancourt-Mendoza’s death when he assaulted Griffin.

“Police officers came to my residence investigating a noise disturbance. After a short confrontation, I pushed and shoved three officers, to a point where we fell to the ground,” Mendoza wrote in his plea statement. “Due to my negligent actions a police officer was stabbed by my cousin and was severely injured. Due to my negligence, my cousin was shot by officers and subsequently died from injuries.”

Mendoza was sentenced Oct. 12 in Franklin County Superior Court. The sentencing happened just days before he turned 26.

Griffin and Officer Kierra Peoples both addressed the court about the impact the attack had on them.

‘Chaos erupts’

Court documents show that a girl called 911 at 8:09 p.m. on Dec. 14, 2019, and said her uncle, Betancourt-Mendoza, was stealing cellphones out of the house.

Boykin, Peoples and Griffin arrived about 8:15 p.m. and were given permission by a female resident to come into the house.

Police were inside when Betancourt-Mendoza walked through an outside door into the dining room. He was identified by relatives as the theft suspect.

Officers were talking with the teen when he placed his hand near his right pocket, where a black, folding tactical knife was clipped.

They quickly moved to prevent him from getting the weapon and tried to remove it from the teen’s pocket, but Betancourt-Mendoza pulled away and resisted their attempts, documents said.

The officers and Betancourt-Mendoza went to the ground, where police asked the suspect why he was trying to reach for a knife.

They reported having “complete control” of him and going to place him in handcuffs when “chaos erupts.”

Mendoza charged into the living room to intervene in his cousin’s arrest. Family members and his girlfriend tried to block Mendoza, putting their hands on his chest, but he pushed by, court documents said.

Officers stabbed

He later claimed that Betancourt-Mendoza told him previously that “if the police came to see (Betancourt-Mendoza), they had better kill him because he did not want to go back to jail.”

Griffin reported hearing yelling coming from down the hall and saw Mendoza heading toward them before the assault suspect grabbed the officer by the vest.

Mendoza said, “What’s you trying to do, boy?” and “You think you got a badge” as he went for Griffin, according to documents.

Griffin, who had been helping to hold down Betancourt-Mendoza, said he broke off to handle Mendoza and ended up pinning him against a couch.

He was trying to get Mendoza’s arms secured when he heard two gunshots close by, documents said. The officer looked over and saw his two colleagues both had blood on them.

Body camera footage showed Boykin had just been stabbed, and Betancourt-Mendoza was in the process of assaulting Peoples, when Boykin fired his .45-caliber Glock twice at the teen’s torso.

The injured Peoples put a tourniquet on Boykin’s right arm to stop the heavy bleeding, since an artery had been cut, then drove the two of them to Lourdes Medical Center in Pasco for treatment.

Boykin required emergency surgery.

Peoples got stitches to close her two wounds, and later suffered severe swelling from an infection.

A restitution hearing is set for mid-December to determine how much Mendoza should pay to cover the victims’ medical bills and other expenses.

This story was originally published October 18, 2021 at 1:43 PM.