MAN FATALLY SHOT BY WASHINGTON STATE TROOPER AFTER CHASE

A state trooper shot and killed a motorist Monday evening after a chase near Olympia. According to the patrol's account, a Trooper Jon Nelson was responding, emergency lights flashing, to a report of a collision and was traveling south on U.S. Highway 101 at about 5:30 p.m. As he tried to pass one vehicle, it accelerated and took off at about 90 mph.

With the trooper in pursuit, the sedan used the shoulder to pass other vehicles for about eight minutes until a spike strip placed by law enforcement officers deflated the tires at the Steamboat Island Road exit, Trooper Brandy Kessler said. The trooper followed the fleeing vehicle onto a gravel road, where it came to a stop.

Authorities stated that it was at that point that shots were fired after the sedan struck the trooper's patrol car and the 20-year-old man was killed. He was identified Friday as Harley Andrew Moniz of Bozeman, Montana. Nelson was not injured, and Kessler would not say whether Moniz had been armed.

Officials said the Moniz had outstanding felony warrants from Montana. He was also facing seven charges for habitual traffic offenses and was being sought on a misdemeanor warrant from Aberdeen. Nelson, who has been with the Patrol since 1996, was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard procedure any time a law enforcement officer is involved in a shooting.