Update | Tri-Cities officer shot suspected drunk driver seconds before being nearly run down

A suspected drunk driver was heading directly at a Kennewick police officer standing outside his patrol car when the officer opened fire to stop the assault, court documents show.

Richard E. Cook’s Jeep Cherokee ended up smashing into the front driver’s side of the patrol car where Officer Dylan Markley stood seconds before.

Markley had quickly sidestepped the SUV that was accelerating toward him as he shot in Cook’s direction, documents said.

Cook, 33, was to appear Thursday in Benton County Superior Court to enter his initial plea to the charges. But court officials were told he remains in Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center five days after he rammed into three or four Kennewick patrol cars and injured another officer.

Kennewick police and the Regional Special Investigations Unit (SIU) have not named the officer who was hospitalized.

But documents, filed Tuesday in Benton County Superior Court, list Cook’s two victims as Officers Stephen Wolosin and Oscar Quinones.

Cook is charged with two counts of second-degree assault.

2 separate calls

The alleged drunken rampage early Saturday lasted almost two hours, with a bloody Cook eventually getting out of his Jeep and being taken into custody by SWAT officers.

However, it started nearly seven hours earlier with a report of a DUI and hit-and-run somewhere in Kennewick.

Police tried to stop the Jeep after the 11 p.m. Friday call, but he sped away and officers backed off because of the new state law about vehicle pursuits.

Cook had been identified in that investigation as the driver of the white Jeep Cherokee, which is registered to a relative.

Then, at 4:05 a.m. Saturday, a 911 caller reported seeing a white Jeep SUV “run a red light and swerve all over the road” at West 10th Avenue and South Edison Street, court documents said.

Police were trying to find the SUV near 10th and South Union Street when an officer said over the radio that the Jeep purposely crashed into his patrol vehicle while he was in it.

That officer said he was hit a second time by Cook, who then drove east on 10th.

Targeting police

Responding officers saw the Jeep traveling east before it made a U-turn westbound in their direction.

The Jeep drove into the parking lot of Grace Baptist Church, 4403 W. 10th Ave., and collided with a second Kennewick patrol car. That one was hit “with enough force to move it approximately 2 feet from its parked position,” documents said.

Cook put his SUV in reverse and hit a tree, before he accelerated forward, eventually ramming into a third patrol car.

At that point, an officer alerted all responding vehicles to turn off their emergency lights “as it appeared Richard was targeting them with his vehicle,” court documents said.

After being shot by Markley, Cook tried to get away by driving through the parking lot to Union Street, heading southbound toward West 19th Avenue before turning around towards 10th Avenue, documents said.

He then stopped his Jeep on 10th and stayed inside, ignoring commands from police. He was arrested by the Tri-City Regional SWAT team at 5:50 a.m.

Cook initially was taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, then flown to Harborview in Seattle.

Police have said he is expected to recover fully.

$200,000 bail

On Monday, Officer Quinones told SIU detectives that he was responding to the incident when he noticed two sets of headlights coming at him, and recognized them as a patrol car being chased by the Jeep.

Quinones said he pulled into a driveway off 10th to avoid being hit, but Cook steered the Jeep toward him in an attempted head-on collision.

The officer quickly reversed, only to find the Jeep still coming after him, he said.

Quinones told investigators that he was driving forward when the Jeep hit the rear passenger side of his car.

He then parked near the entrance to the church, along with another officer, and watched as the Jeep went back and forth on 10th at a high rate of speed, court documents said.

Cook again aimed his Jeep for Quinones’ parked car, so the officer again drove off in reverse. That’s when he noticed the Jeep turn toward Markley’s car and saw his fellow officer shoot at Cook, documents said.

Cook is not officially in custody since he is in the hospital, but his bail is set at $200,000.

This story was originally published October 20, 2021 at 12:56 PM.