VIDEO: RTCC Stolen Vehicle Alert and UAS Help Locate Suspect
Stolen Vehicle Recovered
After receiving a Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) Stolen Vehicle Alert, a Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy located the reported stolen vehicle. The male driver failed to stop and actively attempted to flee instead of stopping for the fully marked patrol car. The Deputy terminated the very short pursuit due to public safety concerns. A short time later, the Deputy located the crashed abandoned stolen truck, and a perimeter was quickly established.
Using a UAS (Unmanned Aerial System), a male suspect was found hiding in some nearby bushes. Deputies and Spokane Police Officers, including a K9 Unit, safely took the suspect into custody. It was determined the suspect was not the driver of the stolen truck, but he was suspected of being involved in earlier attempted vehicle thefts. He was booked in jail for Attempted Vehicle Theft and a felony DV warrant. Two additional suspects, believed to have fled from the stolen truck, were not located.
On October 22, 2024, at approximately 6:55 am, a Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy received an RTCC Stolen Vehicle Alert regarding a reported stolen green 1997 Chevrolet truck traveling west on 57th Avenue.
Spokane Regional Emergency Communications (SREC) also advised three males in an older green truck had attempted to steal motorcycles earlier in the morning on the South Hill. Additional information indicated a witness reported possibly seeing a firearm.
The Deputy located the green truck in the 5000 block of S. Regal, confirmed the license plate, and activated the emergency lights and siren of her fully marked patrol car. However, the male driver failed to stop as required. Instead, he accelerated south on Regal at a high rate of speed. Due to the reckless and unsafe behavior of the fleeing driver, the Deputy terminated the pursuit due to the extreme risk to uninvolved motorists and pedestrians.
Knowing the area, the Deputy began to search, locating the crashed and unoccupied truck in the front yard of a residence in the 6600 block of S. Waneta at approximately 7:05 am. Deputies and assisting Spokane Police Officers established a perimeter, and an SPD K9 Unit and a Sheriff’s Office UAS operator responded.
At approximately 7:47, the Sheriff’s Office UAS operator located a significant heat signature in bushes on the west side of the Palouse Hwy., west of where the truck crashed.
The K9 Unit, Deputies, and Officers converged on the suspect’s location and gave him command to surrender, which he followed. He was safely detained and identified as 40-year-old Dustin C. Rauscher.
SPD Detectives, investigating the earlier attempted vehicle thefts and the theft of the green truck (reported stolen on October 16, 2024), responded. They developed probable cause to charge Rauscher with two counts of Attempted Motor Vehicle Theft.
The two additional suspects who were believed to be in the green truck when it fled were not located. At this point in the investigation, it could not be determined who was driving the stolen truck or if Rauscher knew it was stolen. He was not charged with attempting to elude a police vehicle or possession of the stolen truck.
Rauscher was transported and booked into the Spokane County Jail on SPD charges of Attempted Theft of a Motor Vehicle (two counts) and an active felony warrant for Domestic Violence Order of Protection Violation (DVOPV).
On October 23, 2024, Rauscher appeared before Spokane Superior Court Commissioner E. Cruz, who set Rauscher’s total bond at $15,000.
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This Spokane County Sheriff Office news article "VIDEO: RTCC Stolen Vehicle Alert and UAS Help Locate Suspect" was originally found on https://www.spokanecounty.org/CivicAlerts.aspx?CID=7