Benton City man fired at deputies hoping they’d shoot back. He’s going to prison instead

Jason J. Tanner wanted Benton County deputies to kill him when he fired a bullet at them through his front door, his attorney said.

The bullet passed within inches of two deputies, but they chose to retreat and called in the Tri-City Regional SWAT team and the 56-year-old man turned himself in.

A little more than a year later, Tanner pleaded guilty to first-degree assault in Benton County Superior Court.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys asked for the minimum end of the sentencing range, 10 years in prison, but Judge David Petersen added another near two years to the sentence.

He didn’t go as high as he could with the sentence though, pointing out that Tanner didn’t have any criminal history.

“This was almost a murder and would have resulted in someone else’s life being changed,” he said as he issued an 11 year and eight months sentence. “I can appreciate that you were in a bad spot. “

Deputy Michael Clossey, one of the two who were shot at, spoke at the hearing. He said there wasn’t any justification for the shot.

“Deputy Clossey, thank you for doing what you do,” Petersen said. “I was friends with Trooper (James) Saunders back in the day.”

Saunders, a Washington State Patrol trooper, was killed in the line of duty in Oct. 7. 1999 after pulling over a small pickup on Road 28 in Pasco.

While Tanner didn’t say anything, his attorney Katherine Bohnet said her client was in a dark place when the confrontation happened.

“He was desperate,” she said. “He had no violent history at the time. ... He will get out of prison and he will have a life after this.”

Shooting

Benton County deputies went to Tanner’s Benton City RV on March 7, 2024 to serve arrest warrants for failing to show up for court on misdemeanor charges, Deputy Prosecutor Tyler Grandgeorge said.

A deputy tried to arrest Tanner the day before in connection with the warrant, and they also had a warrant to search the home for him.

They arrived about 3:30 p.m. and spotted Tanner outside of the RV. When they told him they were there to arrest him, he ran back inside.

They surrounded the RV and began to warn him that they would have to use force to get him if he didn’t leave the RV willingly.

While he threatened to shoot deputies and the police dog, he denied having any guns. Deputies spent about an hour trying to get him to come out before deciding to force their way into the building.

Clossey and Deputy Ali Hebert approached the door with tools when Tanner fired through the door with a .45 caliber pistol.

“But for the fact that the deputies were of smaller stature and crouching over, the round would have struck one or both in the head,” court documents said.

Deputies called for the Tri-City Regional SWAT team. When they contacted Tanner again, he agreed to surrender. He walked out of the RV and was arrested.

Investigators found a .45 caliber handgun along with a 9mm handgun in the toilet and a modified shotgun in the bathroom shower.

Tanner’s right to have guns had been revoked since at least 2008, court documents said. Both of the handguns had been reported stolen.