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 Dashboard camera footage from another officer's vehicle shows the
man, identified by police as 36-year-old Mario Miranda Valencia,
apparently firing the weapon into the air before a marked police
vehicle speeds into him - launching him in the air - in the town of
Marana.
Marana police officer Michael Rapiejko then crashes the vehicle into
a brick wall, shattering its windshield. Footage from Rapiejko's
vehicle shows him speed passed another cruiser that was trailing the
suspect before running the man over.
Police said Valencia spent two days in the hospital after the
February arrest and was booked into Pima County Jail on multiple
felony charges.
Rapiejko was not injured, Marana police spokesman Sergeant Chris
Warren said.
 "It's definitely not standard procedure, but the officer feared that
the suspect was going to do some damage," Warren said. "It very well
could have been a mass casualty kind of thing."
Police said Valencia is suspected of an alleged crime spree on Feb.
19 that included an armed robbery of a convenience store, a church
burglary and arson, and a home invasion and vehicle theft in Tucson.
Police said he then drove to a Wal-Mart in nearby Marana, where they
said he stole a hunting rifle and ammunition and fled with store
employees in pursuit.
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Valencia was then spotted by police walking toward several
businesses and refused orders to drop the weapon and surrender,
Warren said, adding that the man pointed the rife at an officer at
one point.
"Officers are taught if they are in a deadly situation to use
whatever means and tools you have available," he said. "That's what
happened."
Rapiejko, who also had worked for police departments in Tucson and
New York City, was cleared of any wrongdoing in the incident by the
county attorney, Warren said. An internal police investigation
continues.
(Editing by Curtis Skinner)
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