VANCOUVER, Wash. -- The man a Vancouver police officer fired at Saturday morning faced new charges in a Wednesday court appearance.
Dominic Tovar was charged with first-degree assault, unlawful possession of a firearm, delivery of a controlled substance, attempting to elude police and hit-and-run injury.
He will remain bard unless he can post $300,000 bail.
He was wanted for failure to appear to the Vancouver Community Corrections office. He served a one-year prison term for drug related crimes and had not checked in since December, according to Jeremy Barclay from the Washington Department of Corrections.
Vancouver Police identified the officer who fired his gun five times at Tovar as 45-year-old Ken Suvada.
Officer Suvada was hired by the Vancouver Police Department on May 15, 2002. He was previously employed as a deputy for the Twin Falls Idaho County Sheriff's Office from January 2000 - May 2002.
The shooting happened just after 11 a.m. Saturday. Vancouver Police had been asked to help a corrections officer take Tovar into custody.
Cellphone video shows Suvada behind Tovar’s car. When Tovar backs up, Suvada fires five times through the back window. Tovar was hit once in the arm.
After crashing the car and fleeing on foot, the pair was taken into custody. Police found a .40mm handgun that Tovar admitted to having in the car. In his jacket pocket, they found a bag with Oxycodone tablets.
He was inside the car with his mother Tavi Tovar.
Court documents show Dominic Tovar, a drug user since his early teens, admitted he was in the parking lot to sell “oxy."
He admitted that he heard the officer tell him to turn off the car, but that he started backing up - then the officer told him again and as he put the car in gear the officer opened fire.
Detectives interviewed Officer Suvada on Tuesday. He said he told Tovar to turn off the car. That it began backing up and bumped his leg before he slammed his hand down on the trunk and told Tovar to stop a second time. The officer said that he had to flee to avoid being run over when Tovar kept going, and that’s when he opened fire.
Tovar Arrest Probable Cause Statement by KGW News on Scribd
Family comes to Tovar's defense
Tovar’s family spoke out after his court appearance.
“Seeing the result - in that video - of the choices he's made, I mean I thought I lost him when I first heard. It tore me apart,” said his uncle, Scott Tovar.
Scott Tovar says the 23-year-old has a drug problem and has made several bad choices in life. But he thinks Vancouver Police Officer Ken Suvada went too far by shooting at him five times.
“It’s pretty scary to think that the police can justifiably shoot you for backing up a car. The video clearly shows he wasn't in danger,” he said.
The mother of Tovar's daughter is not buying it either.
“Not at all," she said.
She did not want her name used, but does want the world to know he’s not violent.
“He's never been violent towards me or my daughter or anyone for that matter that I know of,” she said.
She too thinks the officer used excessive force.
“I just saw the shooting (on video). I was completely shocked and I kept thinking if me and my daughter were in the car, you know, what might have happened in that situation,” she said.
Tovar’s younger sister, Mone, does not believe that her brother will get justice.
“I feel like a lot of people already made up their mind on what kind of person he is, like I see the Facebook comments that people leave,” she said.
The family is now considering legal action against the Vancouver Police Department for excessive use of force.
KGW has requested interviews with the Vancouver police chief every day this week and been told each day he is not available.
Experts review shooting video
Lewis and Clark law professor Tung Yin watched the video to see if he thought the shooting was justified.
“In a split second the officer would likely be justified in trying to stop him,” he said.
Yin said the legal standard is not what a Monday morning quarterback would think or do -- it’s what a reasonable officer would do.
“In the shoes of the officer at that moment, was it reasonable for the officer to, in a split second of time think 'this is what I need to do to protect myself,'” he said.
Scott Winegar retired from Portland police after 26 years. He now teaches active shooter response at Concordia University. He also watched the video and said things happened very quickly for Officer Suvada.
“I bet if you were able to track the time on that, I’ll bet you that was less than a second that all that. All those decisions had to be made. The car started to move, he had to protect himself, he had to make sure no innocents were injured in the process. And then he had to calculate a response to that,” he said.
We did time it. He's right. One second from the time the car starts to move until the shots are done and Suvada is out of the way.
Winegar said the shooting reminded him of the 2003 officer-involved shooting of Kendra James.
Police pulled over a car on the I-5 Skidmore overpass. The driver got out of the car, then James jumped from the back to driver seat and tried to pull away. She was shot by an officer who entered the car. In the process of trying to drive away, she ran over the officer's foot.