Police used ‘all non-lethal’ methods before shooting woman on interstate
By William Lundquist
Argus Observer
Tuesday, November 6, 2007 10:46 AM PST
Payette — Deputies, including one from Payette County, tried all non-lethal methods available before fatally shooting a woman on Interstate 84 in Payette County last month, according to Ada County Sheriff’s Office Community Information Specialist Andrea Dearden.
The shooting is under investigation by the Ada County Sheriff’s Office Critical Incident Task Force, Dearden said last week.
Payette County Sheriff’s Office Det. Randy Cosner said last week that the Payette officer involved in the shooting, Henry Filliponi, was placed on administrative leave for two weeks, which is standard policy in such incidents.
Dearden said ballistics tests are being conducted on a bullet believed to have been fired from Sarah Marie Stanfield’s gun.
She said two separate witnesses saw or heard Stanfield’s gun being fired just before three deputies opened fire with their own weapons.
Dearden also wrote an official information release stating it will take some time before all the firearms evidence can be examined and the toxicology report completed.
Her report said the incident began at 10:35 p.m. Oct. 26 when Ada County Sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Santucci pulled Stanfield, 30, Boise, over in southwest Ada County.
Stanfield, the report said, was wanted on a felony warrant for a probation violation and was facing charges of harboring a felon. She was suspected of helping Kirkely Evans, charged with shooting at a police officer, to hide from officers. The report said deputies had received information that Stanfield was likely armed and dangerous.
The report said Stanfield drove away when Santucci tried to talk with her. She then led him and several other deputies on a high speed pursuit onto I-84 going west.
Spike strips, the report said, damaged the tires of the Chevrolet Blazer Stanfield was driving, but she continued to lead deputies on a chase at speeds of up to 100 mph.
Seven miles south of the Oregon border, the report said, and about 40 minutes into the chase, the Blazer began to smoke and then came to a stop.
Santucci, Filliponi and Ada County Sheriff’s Deputy Ian Hale ordered Stanfield and her male passenger out of the truck. The passenger complied and was later questioned.
No charges have been filed against him.
Stanfield, the report said, tried and failed to restart the Blazer, then stepped out with her gun pointed at her head. She walked through the median toward the eastbound lanes while the three deputies formed a semi-circle and followed her.
The report said Santucci deployed his taser device on Stanfield when she tried to flag down passing cars, but her coat protected her from the taser. After Idaho State Police troopers stopped traffic in both directions, Stanfield tried to open the door of a stopped semi-truck. Hale’s attempt to stop her with a taser also failed.
At that point, the report said, Stanfield pointed her gun at Santucci. That, Dearden said, is when Stanfield fired, according to the two witnesses. Santucci and Filliponi then fired their rifles, hitting Stanfield twice in the chest and six times in extremities, Dearden said. Even so, the report said, Stanfield continued to resist the deputies as they removed her gun from her hand and provided first aid.
Stanfield was flown to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center where she later died.
Dearden said the two taser attempts showed the deputies were doing everything in their power to avoid using lethal force against Stanfield. She said the Ada County sheriff said the deputies would have been completely justified, and would have been following departmental policy, had they sought cover when they saw her gun and responded with their rifles from a longer distance. Instead, Dearden said, the deputies put their lives at risk in getting close enough to Stanfield to use tasers on her, even though she could have shot them at any moment.
“They absolutely went above and beyond,” Dearden said. “We’re confident they did exactly what they should have done. It was fortunate no one else was injured.”
Dearden said her department’s Critical Incident Task Force investigates any use of lethal force by deputies, whether any injuries result or not. She said it once investigated a suicide incident where deputies fired no shots at all. She said Payette County Sheriff Chad Huff was happy Ada County was handling the investigation of Filliponi as well, since it had the system in place to do so.
