The former NYPD officer seen in a viral dash cam video ramming his patrol car into an armed man in Arizona said that he had no other choice but to hit the man, according to recordings obtained by NBC affiliate KVOA.
"I have two thoughts going through my mind. I need to shoot him to stop the threat, or I need to run him over to stop the threat," said Michael Rapiejko, now an officer in Marana, Arizona.
Rapiejeko, 34, was the officer seen on widely watched video ramming his police cruiser into 36-year-old Mario Valencia, who authorities say had stolen a rifle before threatening to kill himself and shooting it in the air next to another police officer. Video of the impact, on Feb. 19, went viral and drew international attention at a time when police actions are under scrutiny.
"He's refused commands, he's holding what I believe to be a locked and loaded rifle, based on the transmission that he's fired a round into the air, there's occupied businesses, there's two other officers at the end of the street," Rapiejko said. "This is what I deem at this point to be a lethal force encounter."
KVOA | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona
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Rapiejko said he decided to ram his car into the officer because Valencia was about 50 yards away, too far away to accurately shoot a handgun.
"So (because of) the potential for really bad collateral damage if I missed that shot in terms of priority of life and innocent bystanders, or one of us, I decided that was not an option," he said. "I wanted to stop the threat. That was the only thing on my mind."
Marana police say Rapiejko is a hero for preventing a potentially deadly situation. The Pima County Attorney's Office has declined to file charges against him, saying there was insufficient evidence to prove Rapiejko had criminal intent when he struck Valencia.
Rapiejko was back on the force after a standard three-day administrative leave following the incident.
Valencia's lawyer, Michelle Cohen Metzger, called Rapiejko's actions excessive and unjustified.
"In watching the video, I think it was clear that it was not the appropriate action and that my client was not threatening to anybody except for himself," Metzger said last week.
Policing experts say Rapiejko's use of his patrol car to stop Valencia was unconventional and even outrageous, but justified because of the danger Valencia posed to officers and others around him.
Rapiejko left the NYPD in 2008 after the city settled an excessive force lawsuit accusing him of point a gun and choking a man in 2005. The city paid $20,000 in the settlement.
Marana police Sgt. Chris Warren said that the NYPD's internal affairs bureau and a citizen review panel cleared Rapiejko of any wrongdoing and that Marana police knew of the incident but didn't find merit to it.
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