Man charged with running over Yakima police officers deemed incompetent to stand trial

YAKIMA - A Yakima man accused of running over two Yakima police officers in 2021 will not be prosecuted.

Yakima County Superior Court Judge Richard Bartheld ordered two first-degree assault charges against Salvador Munoz-Gonzalez dismissed without prejudice after finding him incompetent to stand trial. The order also drops first-degree robbery, possessing a stolen vehicle and eluding charges that were filed against Munoz-Gonzalez in the Jan. 5, 2021, incident at the Walmart on East Chestnut Avenue.

Bartheld also ordered Munoz-Gonzalez committed to Eastern State Hospital.

The charges could be refiled if Munoz-Gonzalez were to be deemed competent.

Staff at Eastern State Hospital found that Munoz-Gonzalez lacked the ability to understand what was happening in court or help in his own defense. Munoz-Gonzalez, 48, was diagnosed with “unspecified schizophrenia spectrum and other psychotic disorder,” as well as marijuana, opiate and cocaine addiction.

Police were called to the store around 2:25 p.m. after witnesses spotted a Chevrolet Colorado pickup that was reported stolen in a Wapato robbery, according to court documents.

Officers found the truck in the parking lot with Muñoz-Gonzalez, who is listed as a transient in court records, in the driver’s seat and another man in the passenger seat, the affidavit said. Officers ordered the men to get out, but Muñoz-Gonzalez sped off, striking the side of a YPD patrol vehicle and running over Sgts. Mike Henne and Mark Grow, according to court documents.

Henne fired at the vehicle as he and Grow were hit, court documents said.

Henne and Grow, who had broken legs after the incident, have since recovered. Henne retired from the department in August 2021.

Officers at the scene said there was more than enough room for the truck to have avoided hitting the officers and the vehicle, court documents said.

Police pursued the truck into Terrace Heights, with speeds reaching 100 mph before the Chevrolet crashed on Roza Hill Drive near the Terrace Heights Landfill, documents said.

His passenger, a 49-year-old man, was questioned and released, according to court documents.

Because Henne fired on the truck, the case was investigated by the Yakima County Special Investigations Unit, which investigates police shootings and in-custody deaths.

Yakima County Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic found the shooting was justifiable.