Chief: Officer made ‘ultimate sacrifice’
A.J. FLICK
Tucson Citizen (Ariz.)
A Tucson police officer is on life support and not expected to live after a man allegedly shot him once in the head. Police Chief Richard Miranda said police Officer Erik Hite, 43, was “ambushed” Sunday after a cross-city pursuit.
David Nickolas “Nick” Delich, 26, was arrested on the way up Mount Lemmon at Molino Basin after police and deputies chased him sporadically from the Northwest Side. Delich was expected to have his initial appearance before a judge Monday morning. Charges will be revealed at the hearing.
“It’s with a heavy heart we’re here today after an officer gave the ultimate sacrifice,” Miranda said Sunday at a new conference. “I’m definitely feeling responsible,” Miranda said. “Officers go out every single day and put their lives on the line and I’m in charge. “For me, there’s a sense of responsibility, a sense of sadness,” he said. “I feel absolutely terrible.”
Mayor Bob Walkup expressed his condolences to Hite’s wife, two children and parents. “I’m proud of the Tucson Police Department and the Sheriff’s Department for getting a really bad person off the street,” Walkup said.
Hite, a four-year veteran of the department, joined after serving in the U.S. Air Force for 21 years. He is a member of Shadowriders.org, an online motorcycle enthusiast group. His wife, Nohemy Hite, and daughter Samantha, who will be 1 year old Saturday, were with Hite at a hospital, Miranda said. Hite’s son, Roy David Hite, is serving in the military in San Antonio, Texas. His parents, Patsy and Roy Hite, are on their way to Tucson, Miranda said.
The chase left two deputies wounded as well.
The incident began 9:49 a.m. when a man, later identified as Delich, fired at two homes with an assault rifle in the 8400 block of North Placita de la Manzana, sheriff’s Bureau Chief Rick Kastigar said. There were no injuries.
After residents called 911, a deputy encountered Delich’s car at North Oracle Road and West Ina Road, Kastigar said. Delich shot that deputy in the arm, but the injured deputy chased Delich south toward River Road, where the deputy lost contact, Kastigar said.
At 11 a.m., four sheriff’s cars - one with what appeared to be a gunshot through the windshield - and one Tucson police car were at a fast-food outlet at River and Oracle, said a Tucson Citizen photographer at the scene.
Other deputies caught sight of Delich’s car near North Swan Road and East River, Kastigar said. The chase continued to East Tanque Verde Road, where Delich allegedly shot at police and deputies on the Tanque Verde Bridge, with no injuries reported.
Officers set up “stop sticks”, or road spikes, intended to disable Delich’s car on Tanque Verde Road, but he turned left on a side street near Tomahawk Trail.
“Officer Hite was ambushed (on Tomahawk Trail),” Miranda said. “There was thought behind what the suspect did.” Hite was in his patrol car. Miranda wouldn’t elaborate, citing the ongoing investigation.
Hite, who was shot about 10:27 a.m., was taken by helicopter to a hospital.
Delich evaded law enforcement officers until he got a short way up the Mount Lemmon Highway, Kastigar said.
Delich allegedly shot a sheriff’s deputy on the Mount Lemmon Highway near milepost 1.5. The officer’s head was grazed, Kastigar said. The chase continued for a couple of miles up the highway until Delich surrendered at Molino Basin, Kastigar said.
Law enforcement officials declined to say what Delich, a Sabino High School graduate, was charged with. Miranda wouldn’t comment on the type of weapon involved, but said officers found weapons in Delich’s car.
Police Capt. Clayton Kidd said it’s not known how many officers were involved in the incident or if any of them returned fire. Molina said Delich shot both from his car and from outside of it, but wouldn’t elaborate.
Al Bleecker, who lives near the site where Hite was shot, said residents were shaken by the shooting. “It’s a terrible, terrible shock for somebody to do something so crazy,” Bleecker said.
Suzanne Tatgenhorst was riding her bicycle along Tanque Verde Road near North Houghton Road around the time of the the Hite shooting. “I stopped my bike and a police officer said, ‘Keep going! Keep going!’” Tatgenhorst said.
“At the light, a female officer threw me behind a metal box and said, ‘Get down! Stay down! He’s just driving and shooting!’ ”
Tatgenhorst said she didn’t hear gunfire, but her parents, who were riding their bicycles nearby, did.