Shots fired at officers precede high-speed chase through Tillamook

A traffic stop near Fred Meyer in Tillamook took an unexpected turn when the vehicle’s driver allegedly opened fire on Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office Deputies and Tillamook City Police Officers before absconding.

Joey de la Rosa Rodriguez of Damascus was spotted around 6:30 p.m. on June 26, by Tillamook Sherriff’s Deputies and Oregon State Troopers driving a white Toyota Tacoma. The officers had identified de la Rosa Rodriguez as having arrest warrants in Clackamas and Yamhill Counties for eluding law enforcement officers in recent days and pulled him over.

During the stop, de la Rosa Rodriguez allegedly opened fire on the officers with a pistol, hitting multiple law enforcement vehicles. Officers from both the sheriff’s office and Tillamook City Police returned fire, before de la Rosa Rodriguez sped off to the south.

After traveling nearly five miles on Highway 101, de la Rosa Rodriguez’s vehicle was partially disabled by a spike strip deployed by sheriff’s deputies, forcing him to pull into a residential driveway, where he was taken into custody.

Upon apprehending de la Rosa Rodriguez, officers discovered that he had sustained an apparent gunshot wound to the arm and provided medical care until an ambulance arrived and transported him to Adventist Health Tillamook. There, he was treated for his injury before being released and taken to the Tillamook County Jail, where he was booked on multiple felony warrants from Clackamas and Yamhill Counties.

As the case is an officer involved shooting by the Tillamook County Sheriff’s Office and Tillamook City Police, the Oregon State Police will be lead investigators. Involved law enforcement members have been placed on paid administrative leave.

Tillamook County District Attorney Aubrey Olson told the Herald that she planned to seek charges for 17 different counts relating to the incident, including for four counts of attempted assault in the first degree with a firearm.