If you lead police on a car chase while high on crystal meth and heroin -- trying to run down officers as they shoot at your vehicle -- and then try to bodyslam the cop who finally gets his hands on you, don't be too surprised if your mugshot looks a little something like the above booking photo of 19-year-old William Piwarchuck.
Piwarchuck got popped about 2 a.m. Sunday after a Department of Public Safety officer watched him drive a U-haul truck the wrong way on a one-way access road near Greenway Road and the I-17.
The officer, obviously, attempted to stop the truck. Piwarchuck, however, wasn't havin' it -- he made a quick u-turn and accelerated directly at the officer's patrol car.
According to court records obtained by New Times, Piwarchuck then tried to flee -- he turned off the truck's headlights and sped away, running several stop signs and stop lights as he attempt to get away from the officer.
Another DPS officer happened to be in the area and saw Piwarchuck
speeding away from the pursuing officer. Piwarchuck also saw the
officer, and drove his truck directly at the squad car, turning to avoid
a collision at the last second.
The officers chased Piwarchuck
to the parking lot of an apartment complex at 15449 North 25th Avenue.
As Piwarchuck circled the parking lot in the truck, one of the officers
got out of his patrol car and attempted to get him to stop, which he
didn't -- so the officer fired 13 rounds at Piwarchuck's vehicle,
apparently unsuccessfully stopping the vehicle, or hitting its driver.
Piwarchuck
left the parking lot with officers still pursuing him. After continuing
the chase, and finding himself in a different parking lot, Piwarchuck
was again approached by an officer on foot. He ignored the officer and
attempted to ram his truck into two other occupied DPS squad cars -- all
while officers were again firing at his vehicle.
Piwarchuck
again escaped, and continued to lead police on a high-speed chase. His
truck only came to a stop after its tires were destroyed by police spike
strips, which had been left in the road for Piwarchuck near 1800 West
Greenway Road.
Piwarchuck then attempted to "body slam" the
officer who tried to remove him from the now-disabled vehicle, which was
a poor decision on his part (reference: the above mug shot).
The
officer and Piwarchuck had what is described in the arrest report as a
"scuffle," which apparently resulted in a "jaw injury" for Piwarchuck,
and a banged up hand for the officer.
Inside Piwarchuck's
vehicle, police found a handgun and a shotgun. They also found a female
friend of the suspect's, who told officers the two had been doing heroin
all day, and that the reason Piwarchuck fled was because he was affraid
he'd go to prison because of previous drug convictions.
Heroin
aside, a blood test conducted at the hospital where Piwarchuck was taken
to treat wounds suffered in the "scuffle" show that he also had
methamphetamine in his system.
In addition to apparently getting
the crap kicked out of him by the cops, Piwarchuck was hit with six
counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and one count each of
resisting arrest and unlawful flight from a law enforcement vehicle.
Additional charges are pending, according to police.
