Police say suspect in rig theft called it ‘hate crime’

A man arrested a week ago for stealing a Spokane Valley Fire Department vehicle claimed he did it because he hates black people.

Detectives think Jessie M. Vasquez, 26, assaulted a black woman on her bicycle at Sprague and University just minutes before jumping in the Fire Department’s Suburban and leading police on a 52-mile chase, Spokane County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Dave Reagan said.

“He himself labeled it as a hate crime,” Reagan said.

Vasquez was charged with fourth-degree assault and malicious harassment Thursday in connection with the assault and with first-degree theft and malicious mischief for allegedly taking a fire rig from the scene of a medical call.

He was apparently walking on Sprague just east of University on April 16 when he encountered a 47-year-old black woman riding her bike, Reagan said.

Vasquez swore at the woman using a racial slur and then pushed her into the roadway and threw a 40-ounce container of soda at her, Reagan said.

From there, he said, Vasquez walked to where the Suburban was parked, unlocked with the engine running, while its crew was inside an adult care center handling a medical call.

Vasquez stole the rig and, in the ensuing chase, crashed into a Whitman County Sheriff’s Office cruiser, destroying it, Reagan said.

Vasquez faces charges in Whitman County for that incident.

The pursuit reached speeds of up to 100 mph and ended when Vasquez became stuck in a muddy field near Tensed, Idaho, Reagan said.

Damages to the Fire Department vehicle were estimated at $1,500.