CLEARED

No Charges for Cop Who Crashed Into Man

No evidence of criminal intent.

Prosecutors will not bring charges against an Arizona officer who crashed his police car into a suspect from behind in order to end a pursuit in February, according to a letter dated March 31. During a police chase for armed suspect Mario Valencia, Officer Michael Rapiejko drove his car onto a sidewalk and hit the man, dashcam footage released this week revealed. Valencia had allegedly committed a string of crimes in the area earlier that day. But a letter from Pima County attorney Barbara LaWall to the police chief concluded, “there is insufficient evidence to prove that Officer Rapiejko had the requisite criminal intent for aggravated assault.”