Report: Officer who shot Pasco farmworker dragged him from fire weeks earlier

SEATTLE (AP) — One of the officers who killed an immigrant farmworker in Washington state in a shooting that helped fuel the nationwide debate over police use of force had dragged the man away from his burning rental home just weeks earlier.

Documents obtained by The Associated Press under public records requests reveal that Antonio Zambrano-Montes was sitting on the ground in January in a meth-addled trance near the fire when Officer Adam Wright found him.

Weeks later, Zambrano-Montes was shot as he ran away from officers in the eastern Washington city of Pasco and suddenly turned around with his arms outstretched. That Feb. 10 encounter was caught on video and prompted months of angry protests.

The documents obtained by the AP shed new light on Zambrano-Montes' run-ins with police and his erratic behavior.

Police have alleged that Zambrano-Montes was throwing rocks at cars and trucks when he was confronted by officers. Officers attempted “voice commands and low level force,” and used a Taser, police said, but those efforts were unsuccessful.

After two officers were struck with rocks — at least one of them as large as a softball — police said the officers resorted to deadly force.

The widow and children of Zambrano-Montes have filed a $25 million claim against the city of Pasco alleging that three officers killed the unarmed man “execution style.”