Thurston County deputy fights with DUI suspect who grabbed her gun at crash scene
By: Thurston County, WA - Newly-released videos show the moments a suspected impaired driver grabbed a Thurston County Sheriff's deputy's gun during a fight at the scene of a car crash last month.
The deputy was driving home on Oct. 15. When she came across a crash at the intersection of Pacific Ave SE and Old Pacific Hwy, east of Lacey.
The video shows the deputy alerting dispatchers of the crash and requesting additional units to help at the scene.
Shortly after, the deputy radios that one of the drivers was not complying with her orders to stay out of his car and show his hands.
Video from the deputy's body camera shows the suspect charging at her, at which point she deploys a taser.
After multiple attempts, the taser was ineffective, and the deputy retreated to the front of her patrol car as the suspect charged her.
Video from her cruiser's dash camera shows the suspect grabbing her gun holster as the pair physically struggled in the road.
A Nisqually Tribal Police officer who was responding to the deputy's calls for help arrived and began helping the deputy to wrestle the suspect, who it appeared was still attempting to grab the deputy's gun.
At this point, an off-duty corrections officer arrived and helped the officer and deputy control the man.
The suspect was identified in court documents as 47-year-old Bryan McKay Fleming. In an arrest report, Washington State Patrol troopers said witnesses saw Fleming's car traveling on Pacific Ave at a high rate of speed before colliding with a guardrail and then striking an oncoming car.
When questioned by a detective, Fleming said he drank seven bottles of "Nyquil" that day to help him fall asleep. When asked about the fight with the deputy, the arrest report said Fleming made statements about suicide.
Thurston County prosecutors charged Fleming with assault, attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer, driving under the influence, reckless driving, obstructing a law enforcement officer, and resisting arrest.
"He probably had 120 pounds on her, and he's a brown belt in jujitsu as well," said Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders. "You can see more than a decade of training kick in for her - how she handled that, it’s a 10/10 across the board from start to finish.”
Sanders emphasized that the deputy used the police training principles of "time, distance, and shielding" to slow down the conflict, but when she was attacked, she protected her firearm from being taken out of its holster.