An officer-involved shooting that ended in the death of a man who stole a police cruiser has been ruled justified by the Beaver County District Attorney. Deshawn Leeth, the man implicated in the altercation, reportedly assaulted an Ohio trooper on April 4th before leading police on a pursuit that crossed state lines into Pennsylvania.
According to WPXI, Beaver County District Attorney Nate Bible explained, “He already assaulted one trooper today, stole a vehicle, and could have a weapon because there were weapons inside the Ohio vehicle.” This statement summarized the events leading to the Pennsylvania State Police being on high alert as Leeth crossed into their jurisdiction.
The pursuit ended on the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Beaver County, with troopers performing a PIT maneuver that caused the stolen cruiser to flip and catch fire. In a fiery tableau, one trooper bravely extracted Leeth from the wreckage, while another provided cover. But the rescue attempt took a turn when Leeth, now out of the vehicle, swung at one of the troopers and attempted to grab the officer’s rifle, forcing the trooper to make a life-or-death decision.
In a statement detailed by WPXI, Bible recounted that body camera footage showed Leeth "grabbing the officer’s rifle with enough force to dislodge the magazine." Faced with a situation where he believed his life was in imminent danger, the involved trooper shot Leeth a single time, resulting in fatal injuries.
Further details emerged from dash camera footage, as reported by WTAE, revealing that before the crash, Leeth had been heard talking to himself during the 11-minute chase. After an earlier altercation where a Taser proved ineffective, Leeth had commandeered the Ohio trooper's vehicle and fled, only to be fatally apprehended after crashing in North Sewickley, Beaver County.
No criminal charges will be filed against the trooper, with the ruling backed by testimonies from Pennsylvania and Ohio State Troopers and physical evidence from the scene.
