21-year-old sentenced for downtown Spokane robbery that led to shooting, police chase
A 21-year-old man was sentenced to 6½ years in prison for his involvement in an attempted robbery, shooting and police chase that started in downtown Spokane two summers ago.
Dylen J. Swan pleaded guilty Jan. 27 to attempted first-degree robbery and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, according to court documents.
Documents show Swan, a felon, brandished a firearm at the victim and his friends and demanded money the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2021, in a parking lot near Fourth Avenue and Maple Street. The victim told police he thought Swan’s red or orange firearm was fake, so the victim tried to retrieve an airsoft gun from his own backpack when Swan shot him in the upper-right arm.
He was taken to the hospital with injuries not believed to be life-threatening, according to a Spokane Police Department news release at the time.
A witness told police she saw Swan shoot the victim before he got into a red sedan with four other people and drive west on Fourth Avenue. About 10 minutes after the shooting, police located the red sedan speeding west on Sunset Highway and pursued it.
The pursuit, which reached speeds of 90 mph, continued into Airway Heights and then back to Spokane, according to documents. Someone threw out the window a gun that matched the description of the red one used during the shooting and other items during the chase.
A patrol unit stopped the vehicle on Lindeke Street near 14th Avenue before the sedan crashed into a parked car, documents say. The driver and front-seat passenger ran, while three back-seat passengers, including Swan, remained in the vehicle. All five were arrested.
The driver, Chandler Alexander, told police Swan shot the man and that the five suspects were driving around town looking to rob someone.
Swan will serve 18 months of community custody when he is released from prison.