Officer fires at driver in stolen truck

Stephen Curran

Thursday, Dec. 30, 2004 | 11:26 a.m.

A Metro Police officer fired three shots at a man who tried to ram him in a stolen pickup truck after a short vehicle pursuit this morning, police said.

The chase began about 2:20 a.m. when the motorcycle officer, whose name was not released, attempted to pull over two trucks seen racing on Jones Boulevard near Oakey Boulevard.

Both vehicles stopped before one truck, driven by 29-year-old Terry Bayless of Cedar City, Utah, sped away. The officer chased him to Eden Court, a cul-de-sac, before Bayless turned the truck to face the officer, Capt. James Dillon said.

Bayless then attempted to ram the officer's motorcycle with the truck before the officer fired three shots, Dillon said.

"If he (the officer) felt confident he might have been trying to shoot at the tire," he said.

Dillon said he did not know if any bullets struck the moving vehicle or if the officer was indeed aiming for the truck's tires.

A later investigation found the truck the man was driving had been reported stolen, Dillon said.

The motorist was not hit and drove another couple blocks before crashing into a power pole near Celeste Avenue and Torrey Pines Boulevard, Dillon said. A police dog later tracked down Bayless in the backyard of a nearby home.

Bayless was taken to University Medical Center, where he was treated for a dog bite he suffered while allegedly resisting arrest, Dillon said.

Bayless remained at the Clark County Detention Center this morning, Dillon said. Exactly what charges Bayless faces could not be confirmed this morning.

Neither the other pickup nor its driver had been located this morning.

The officer, whose name was not released this morning, was placed on administrative leave pending a hearing by the department's use-of-force board.

Officers are normally advised to shoot at suspects only when they believe their lives or those of another person are in direct jeopardy, he said.

"He (the officer) had gotten off his motorcycle and was clearly identified at Metro Police and the suspect drove toward him," Dillon said. "It's that mindset when he may have been in fear for his life."