Jury delivers verdict in trial of man accused of restraining Tacoma cop who ran him over

TACOMA – A 25-year-old man run over by a Tacoma Police Department officer at a street-racing sideshow after he yelled, “Block the cops,” and the patrol car was surrounded by an angry crowd was found guilty Thursday of unlawful imprisonment and other felonies.

Anthony Edward Huff-McKay was with 100 to 200 other people in downtown Tacoma the night of Jan. 23, 2021 watching cars burn rubber and spin in circles when officers Khanh Phan and Rader Cockle arrived to break up the intersection takeover on Pacific Avenue.

Pierce County prosecutors accused Huff-McKay of inciting a mob to attack the now-retired officers’ patrol cars, showing the jury of eight women and four men the defendant’s cell phone video of him yelling, “Block the cops,” eight times and, “Get the [expletive] over here,” as evidence that he was directing the crowd.

People pounded on Phan’s patrol car, kicked it and rocked it back and forth. When Cockle arrived seconds later, he was similarly surrounded, and he reported hearing shouts of “Pull him out” and “Kill that cop.” The back window of his vehicle was broken out.

In addition to two counts of unlawful imprisonment for restraining Phan’s and Cockle’s movements, the jury found Huff-McKay guilty of two counts of second-degree malicious mischief for the damage to the patrol cars and obstructing a law enforcement officer.

Superior Court Judge Matthew Thomas ordered Huff-McKay to report to the Pierce County Jail by 4 p.m. Friday or post $7,500 bail to remain out of custody until sentencing.

A sentencing date was set for July 19. Deputy prosecuting attorney Kara Sanchez asked that he be jailed immediately and held without bail, stating that the activity that made up the crimes demonstrates a disrespect for authority.

With no prior felony convictions, Huff-McKay faces a standard sentencing range of nine to 12 months in prison, according to prosecutors. Special verdicts reached by the jury that the victims were law enforcement officers carrying out official duties mean the state could argue for a punishment beyond the standard range.

Huff-McKay’s defense attorney, Brett Purtzer, declined to make a statement to The News Tribune. In closing arguments Wednesday, Purtzer challenged prosecutors’ claim that his client was directing the crowd and argued that neither officer was imprisoned or restrained.

The defendant and at least five other people were struck when Phan tried to escape the crowd by accelerating forward. Huff-McKay was hospitalized with a partially collapsed lung and broken ribs. Prosecutors said the collision was the result of the defendant’s own “poor choices.”

A Pierce County team that investigates police uses of deadly force conducted an inquiry into the collision, but prosecutors declined to file charges against the officer. Phan served with TPD for more than 30 years and retired in January 2022. Cockle, a TPD officer for four years, retired Sept. 16, 2021.

No one else has faced criminal charges in the chaotic incident, but the defendant was charged as an accomplice for the actions of the crowd of people who first gathered for a street-racing sideshow and then targeted the police officers dispatched to break it up. Prosecutors told jurors the case hinged on accomplice liability.

Video of Phan driving through the crowd made national headlines, and it spurred hundreds of people to descend on downtown Tacoma the following night to protest police uses of force.

Tacoma City Council members pressed police to do something about street racing, which surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Two months later, the council passed an ordinance prohibiting exhibitions of speed in the city, and in 2022 it passed an ordinance meant to crack down on spectators.