PO Dan Rocha
Officer: Everett Police Department, Police Officer Dan Rocha
Date: 3/25/2022 Location: Everett, WA FACTORS (1,2,8,9,12,14,15,19,21)
Perpetrator(s) Involved: Richard James Rotter
Criminal Activity History/Involved: Yes, Rotter was a career violent criminal who since the 1980s had hundreds of contacts with the police, more than 50 arrests, and convicted or had “adverse findings for 18 felonies, 12 gross misdemeanors and 11 misdemeanors.” / Yes, Rotter had two active warrants for “domestic violence assault and a hit-and-run” and illegally possessed weapons.
Mental Illness: None stated.
Substance Abuse History/Involved: Unknown. / None stated.
Race/Sex/Age: White/Male/50
What prompted the initial contact with the killer? At around 2 p.m. on March 25, 2022, Everett Police Officer Dan Rocha responded to a 911 call of a suspicious person near the parking lot of a Starbucks. Upon arriving in the area, PO Rocha observed Richard Rotter “moving guns from one car to another”. Aware Rotter had two active warrants; PO Rocha confronted Rotter and attempted to arrest him.
Actions taken by subject toward police: Rotter refused to peacefully comply and instead fought with PO Rocha. After both men fell to the ground behind Rotter’s car, he took out a gun and shot PO Rocha several times in the head. As PO Rocha lay mortally injured, Rotter get into his car, backed over the officer and fled the scene.
Reactions by the police: Additional officers caught up to Rotter and managed to arrest him after he crashed into several vehicles.
How murdered? PO Rocha was shot at close range while trying to arrest a combative man with active warrants.
What could have been done differently for the officer to still be alive? The suspicious person PO Rocha ended up encountering was a violent recidivist. PO Rocha was doing his job arresting Rotter when Rotter was able to access a hidden weapon – which at that point it was too late for PO Rocha to react in time to defend himself from.
Would the officer have been justified to use deadly force before being murdered? In a hand-to-hand struggle it can be difficult for an officer to see the suspect access a weapon and even harder to react in time to draw their duty weapon and use it.
Outcome for the cop-killer: After being arrested, Rotter was treated at the hospital for minor injuries from the collisions and remains in jail on $5 million bond for charges of first-degree murder and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Miscellaneous: Rotter’s violent criminal history should have precluded him from being out on bail, he should have still been in prison and PO Rocha would still be alive.
