Man run over by Tacoma police is sentenced for unlawfully imprisoning the officers

A 25-year-old man found guilty of unlawful imprisonment and other felonies for directing a crowd of people in downtown Tacoma to surround police cruisers dispatched to break up a street-racing sideshow was sentenced Friday to 90 days in jail.

Anthony Edward Huff-McKay was in a crowd of 100 to 200 people watching and videotaping cars drift in circles the evening of Jan. 23, 2021 at the intersection of South Ninth Street and Pacific Avenue when now-retired Tacoma Police Department officer Khanh Phan arrived on the scene.

Huff-McKay’s own cell phone video of the action captured him repeatedly yelling: “Block the cops,” seconds before the crowd descended on the officer’s vehicle.

People pounded on Phan’s patrol car, kicked it and rocked it back and forth, according to prosecutors’ description of trial testimony. When another now-retired officer, Rader Cockle, arrived moments later, he was similarly surrounded, and he reported hearing shouts of: “Pull him out” and “Kill that cop.”

Phan accelerated to escape, hitting at least five people and running over Huff-McKay, who was taken to a hospital that night with a partially collapsed lung and broken ribs.

Before Pierce County Superior Court Judge Matthew Thomas imposed a sentence, Huff-McKay told the court he had been an “idiot” on the night of the incident. The young man has been out of custody for the duration of the case, and he appeared in a fifth-floor courtroom Friday in a Navy blue suit while his parents and grandparents watched from the gallery.

“I apologize for being an idiot, and for my actions that night,” Huff-McKay said. “It is not who I am. It is not who I want to be.”

Huff-McKay said he wanted to move forward with his life, give back to the Tacoma community, and he wanted the chance to show he is a changed person who is respectful and hard working. He said he didn’t believe being thrown in jail would give him that chance.

Thomas said Huff-McKay had committed serious offenses and jail time was necessary, but he opted to sentence the defendant as a first time offender, lowering his standard sentencing range from nine to 12 months in jail to 0-90 days. Thomas also ordered Huff-McKay to complete 40 hours of community service upon his release.

Huff-McKay was the only one charged with a crime in connection to the incident. Prosecutors charged him as an accomplice to the actions of the crowd.

The defendant filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Tacoma and Phan in January claiming that the city and the police officer were negligent, but he dropped the suit July 10 .

Huff-McKay’s attorney in that case told The News Tribune that the outcome of Huff-McKay’s criminal case affected his civil lawsuit, and that his client had decided to put the incident behind him and move on. Court records show two other pedestrians who also claimed to be struck by Phan have filed federal lawsuits.

Huff-McKay’s jury trial

During his jury trial in Pierce County Superior Court, deputy prosecuting attorneys Kara Sanchez and Jeremy Peterson highlighted the defendant’s cell phone video in which he also yelled “Get the (expletive) over here” as evidence he was directing the crowd. Prosecutors told jurors the case hinged on accomplice liability.

Jurors found Huff-McKay guilty June 6 of two counts of unlawful imprisonment for restraining Phan’s and Cockle’s movements, two counts of second-degree malicious mischief for the damage to the patrol cars, and obstructing a law enforcement officer, which is a gross misdemeanor.

The jury panel also found that the victims were law enforcement officers working in their official capacities, an aggravating factor that allowed prosecutors to argue the defendant should receive a sentence beyond the standard range of nine to 12 months of incarceration. Prosecutors requested he serve a year and a day in prison.

Huff-McKay has no prior felony convictions. Prosecutors noted he has two gross misdemeanor convictions out of Kent Municipal Court for attending illegal street racing events in 2019 and 2020.

Video of Phan driving through the crowd made national headlines, and it spurred downtown protests the following night as well as calls for police accountability.

A Pierce County team that investigates police uses of deadly force conducted an inquiry into the collision, but the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office declined to file charges against the officer in July 2022. 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.

Phan testified at trial, according to prosecutors, that he felt fear and was conflicted in the midst of the chaotic incident.

“That he, as a police officer, is trained to preserve and protect life, but that he also was in fear for his own life,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.

As for Cockle, Sanchez admitted in her closing arguments that Huff-McKay was not near Cockle’s vehicle at the time he was surrounded — the defendant had already been run over — but she emphasized for the jury that the defendant said to: “Block the cops,” in the plural. Cockle couldn’t move in any direction, Sanchez said, and he couldn’t just get out of his car because he believed he would be killed.

“Officer Cockle only escaped by advising the mob outside of his vehicle that he would use his sidearm if they breached his vehicle and that he would drive through the vehicle parked in front of him,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum.

In the defense’s closing argument, attorney Brett Purtzer challenged prosecutors’ claim that his client was directing the crowd and argued that neither officer was imprisoned or restrained.

Defense tries to have case dismissed

Before the sentencing hearing began Friday afternoon, Purtzer undertook a long-shot effort to have the judge dismiss his client’s case and enter findings of not guilty, arguing that prosecutors’ evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdicts.

Purtzer said the state’s theory was that Huff-McKay’s statements on his cell phone video led to the activity of an entire mob of 100 to 200 people and that he had control of the group. He said there was no evidence that someone heard the defendant say “Block the cops” and then acted on it. He said people in the crowd moved of their own volition.

Two Kent police officers who were there that night testified at trial, according to Purtzer, and both said they couldn’t hear what Huff-McKay or anyone else said because of the din of noise.

“There wasn’t any blocking of the vehicles,” Purtzer said. “Maybe perhaps temporarily. Officer Phan came to the scene, he stopped, backed up, and then he went through the crowd. He just simply was not unlawfully imprisoned at any point in time.”

Purtzer added that nothing Huff-McKay said promoted the damaging of police cars.

Sanchez said accomplice liability did not require the state to elicit testimony from someone who said they heard the defendant’s words and acted upon them. And she disagreed that the officers had not been unlawfully imprisoned.

“The officers were blocked, however momentarily,” Sanchez said.

After hearing a rebuttal from Purtzer, Thomas said the defense attorney had a good argument to make at trial that no one testified that they actually heard Huff-McKay, but he said the jury is allowed to draw inferences. The judge denied the defense’s motion.

Prosecutors request prison time

Sanchez said she normally would not seek a sentence beyond the standard range in an unlawful imprisonment case, but this one was different for a number of reasons.

The victims were law enforcement officers, which jurors found as an aggravating factor in the case. The attorney said she couldn’t imagine how frightening the situation was for Phan or Cockle, and she said the defendant’s “egregious” behavior could have led to a much worse outcome.

“The law enforcement community should be able to respond to where they need to respond and not expect to be victimized,” Sanchez said.

Huff-McKay was also immersed in the street-racing culture, Sanchez said, and she said his conduct showed he felt entitled to do what he did.

The defendant’s attorney argued in his sentencing memorandum that Huff-McKay’s youthfulness should be considered as a mitigating factor in his sentence. He was 21 when the incident occurred. Sanchez said considering youthfulness in sentencing is in “constant flux,” and that nothing about the defendant’s upbringing indicated his age contributed to the offense.

On the contrary, letters of support written by Huff-McKay’s family, Sanchez said, showed that he acted responsibly as a child and was a good person. After his two gross misdemeanors for attending street-racing events, the attorney said the defendant knew what he was doing was wrong.

Phan and Cockle did not address the court during Friday’s sentencing hearing. A spokesperson for the police department did not return a call asking for comment on the outcome of the case.

‘Anthony is not a monster.’

Purtzer urged Judge Thomas to not lose sight of Huff-McKay’s age at the time of the offense and the injuries he endured. He told the judge there was no requirement for jail time and he could instead impose community service.

The defense attorney said prosecutors had described this as an egregious offense, but he reminded the court that Huff-McKay was the only person charged out of up to 200 people. He said investigators had names and license plates, but that after Phan was essentially exonerated a decision was made to focus on his client.

The court then heard from Huff-McKay’s grandmother, Patty Charboneau. The defendant has lived with her and his grandfather in Kent for the past three years, and Charboneau said he rarely left home.

Charboneau said Huff-McKay had always been a respectable young man. After he finished his schooling, he became an Eagle Scout, and since the incident occurred he has taken up rebuilding small engine motors in his parents’ garage next door.

“I would just like the court to know that Anthony is not a monster,” Charboneau said.

She said Huff-McKay made a mistake, as everyone has. Yes, others’ mistakes may not be as severe as his, she said, and he regrets it, but now it is over and done with. Charboneau was grateful no one else was hurt. She said she realized the officers’ cars were damaged, and if there was restitution she and Huff-McKay’s grandfather would cover it.

But Charboneau questioned why others hadn’t been held accountable, too.

“Why didn’t we arrest the young men that were out there doing circles in the middle of the street?” she asked. “Instead, we’re going to pick on my grandson, who made a mistake by making a statement to block the cops.”

Charboneau pleaded with Thomas to not incarcerate Huff-McKay.

The defendant spoke next, telling the judge it was an understatement to say his life had changed since January 2021. He said he deeply regretted his choices that night. Huff-McKay said he would never again do anything related to street racing or intersection takeovers.

Judge Thomas inquired about the extent of the defendant’s injuries. Huff-McKay said on his first trip to the ER, not all of his injuries were discovered. It wasn’t until almost four months later that an MRI revealed his ACL, MCL and meniscus were all torn, which led to surgery and months of physical therapy.

Thomas then described everything he considered before rendering the defendant’s sentence, including the seriousness of the offense, Huff-McKay’s prior convictions for gross misdemeanors, the injuries he suffered, protecting the public and reducing the defendant’s risk of reoffending, among other factors. As far as youthfulness, Thomas said he thought about the argument, but it wasn’t applicable here.

Huff-McKay didn’t appear to react after Thomas gave him 90 days in jail. Purtzer said he planned to appeal and requested bail pending appeal. Thomas said a hearing could be scheduled, but that Huff-McKay’s sentence would begin Friday.

Two Sheriff’s Department deputies handcuffed Huff-McKay behind his back.

“Love you guys,” Huff-McKay said to family members in the gallery.

The deputies began to lead him away. Outside the courtroom, his mother and grandmother hugged one another and cried.