Two Spokane County deputies injured in fight with domestic violence suspect

A Spokane Valley man faces five felony charges after allegedly threatening to kill his wife, then starting a fight that left a Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputy with a broken ankle and another with a sprained elbow.

According to court documents, Clifford E. Sessions, 44, slammed his wife’s head into a couch after she tried to leave the couple’s apartment in Spokane Valley with her daughter on Oct. 10. When police arrived, he allegedly told her, “If you don’t want to die, don’t tell them I’m here.”

When two deputies attempted to arrest Sessions, he allegedly punched one in the chest and began a fight. A total of seven deputies eventually responded to the call after Deputy Mark Benner called for backup. Benner sprained his right elbow in the altercation, and another deputy broke his ankle, court documents say.

After he was escorted to a patrol car, Sessions allegedly called Deputy Tuan Nguyen a racial slur and told him to “go back to Mexico.” Nyugen is a Spokane native who speaks fluent Vietnamese, according to a department news release from 2014.

Sessions was arrested on investigation of three assault charges, domestic violence harassment and resisting arrest.