Federal prosecutors have reached a plea deal with a man accused of shooting at a San Juan County sheriff's deputy, so the sheriff's department on Wednesday released video of the extended 2007 incident. According to a news release, Lionel Claw, 22, pleaded guilty to federal charges of assault with a deadly weapon, discharging a firearm during a violent crime and possession of a firearm by a person under indictment. He'll serve 25 years in prison on those charges. Claw had earlier been sentenced to a total of 30 years in prison for state charges relating to this incident and a separate armed robbery. The five-minute video shows views from two dashboard cameras of parts of the chase and shootout from May 2007. The San Juan County Sheriff's Department edited and annotated the video before releasing it to the media. According to a news release, three Bloomfield police officers were dispatched to a call about a fight at the Quick Stop Laundry on North First Street in Bloomfield just before 7 p.m. on May 12, 2007. A black passenger car was seen leaving the business at a high speed, and later found at a nearby mobile home park. At the mobile home park, police tried to apprehend the four people inside the vehicle. One fled on foot. Sgt. Joe Templeton of Bloomfield police tried to use a stun gun to take the driver, identified as Claw, into custody, but the darts struck two different people, preventing the weapon from working. Claw left the area at a high speed and other officers caught up. During the chase, according to the news release, the suspect held a gun outside the driver's window and fired at the pursuing officers, hitting their vehicles. San Juan County deputies and state police joined the pursuit, which after leaving Bloomfield town limits reached 94 miles an hour at times on U.S. Highway 550. One of the passengers, Eli Trujillo, jumped out of the moving vehicle, leaving Claw and a teenage girl inside. Trujillo suffered serious injuries. As the chase continued, according to the news release, the girl leaned out the front window and fired several shots at the pursuing law enforcement cars. More shots were fired through the car's rear window as well, according to the news release. The chase soon reached the Navajo Nation. The suspects fired several more shots at the pursuing vehicles. Meanwhile, officials deployed spike strips on the road, deflating the left tires of the suspect vehicle. The vehicle continued into a housing area, where the girl entered a home. She was later taken into custody. According to the news release, Claw pointed a gun at the officers, reentered the vehicle and drove away, but a San Juan County deputy performed a PIT maneuver to stop it. Other deputies worked to pin the driver in. Claw then fired several times at Sgt. Kory Faulk, the news release said. He and other officers returned fire, hitting Claw several times. Claw was soon airlifted to the San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he was treated and released into police custody. Faulk, who was hit several times by bullet and glass fragments, was also treated for his injuries and released. The teenage girl later pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer and was sentenced to three years in a juvenile facility. http://www.allforthebade.com

• published: 29 Mar 2014
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