A 27-year-old St. Helens man led Oregon State Police troopers on a high-speed chase Friday that ended in gunfire -- and his death -- at a country crossroad north of Scappoose, Columbia County authorities reported on Saturday.
Troopers assigned to the St. Helens state police office attempted to stop Josiah Max Fischer for a traffic violation at 6:38 p.m. on Friday on U.S. 30. But Fischer, behind the wheel of a black 1997 Mitsubishi, drove westbound on U.S. 30 and two minutes later turned on Millard Road.
For the next four minutes, troopers Robin May and Justin Oxenrider -- in separate patrol cars -- chased Fischer as he made a series of turns at high speed on country lanes west of the highway. Fischer aimed the Mitsubishi down Hazen Road, in the community of Warren, where the auto skidded off the pavement at Stone Road.
At 6:44 p.m., county dispatchers heard reports, presumably by police, of shots fired.
What happened next is under investigation by the Columbia County Sheriff's Office, which brought in the county's Major Crimes Team to help determine whether the use of deadly force was justified.
What is clear is that at least one of the two state troopers opened fire, and that Fischer -- who died in the shooting -- appears to have had a gun.
"A firearm was recovered at the scene," Sheriff Jeff Dickerson told The Oregonian on Saturday.
Dickerson said in email exchanges with the newspaper that it was unclear whether both troopers fired on Fischer, and that the investigation will focus on whether the troopers feared that Fischer posed a threat of bodily harm or death.
Two St. Helens police officers pulled up to the scene of the shooting moments later, followed by a swarm of sheriff's deputies and police from surrounding agencies.
State police announced on Saturday that the troopers involved in the shooting were placed on paid administrative leave, pending a review of the shooting by the Columbia County District Attorney's Office.
Dickerson said that Fischer was not wanted for any crimes at the time of the police chase. Public records show that Fischer pleaded guilty in 2008 to a felony theft charge in Columbia County, but drew a suspended sentence. Records show no indication that Fischer had ever acted out violently.
Police first identified the suspect in the case as a woman, but corrected the assertion once they had made a positive identification of Fischer's body.
Copyright 2013 - The Oregonian, Portland, Ore.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
