Killer in fatal police chase gets maximum 51 year sentence
Yakima Herald-Republic
YAKIMA, Wash. â€" Shaun Kollman's handcuffs and chains rattled under the defense table as he fidgeted in his seat and wiped tears on his sleeves while family and friends of his victims pleaded with the judge for the longest sentence allowed under state law.
Yakima County Superior Court Judge Blaine Gibson handed down just that.
Gibson sentenced Kollman to more than 51 years in prison Monday for the deaths of Pascual Ayala and Marina Barajas, who died in June 2010 when he a stolen pickup crashed into their car while trying to outrun police.
Pascual's brother Jesus Ayala told the court Kollman didn't deserve to ever walk beyond prison walls after what he did to Ayala, 29, and his girlfriend Barajas, 41.
"He doesn't deserve to do something my brother can't do anymore," Ayala said.
In a prepared statement, Barajas' mother, Maria Valencia, said Barajas was like a second mother to her siblings, someone who worked hard to support her relatives and a source of inspiration for those around her.
"Nothing and nobody will be able to replace the love and friendship she gave us," Valencia said.
In arguing for a low-end sentence of 35 years total, Kollman's attorney, James Kirkham, said Kollman had reduced faculties from being in the midst of a two-week binge on cocaine and methamphetamine and did not intentionally cause anyone physical harm. Kirkham said his client was shocked and wept after being informed two people had died in the car chase with police.
Kollman, 32, echoed that sentiment in one sentence before cutting himself short as he sobbed profusely.
"I didn't mean to hurt anybody," Kollman said.
Gibson said video evidence of Kollman stopping, waiting for a police car to catch up to him and then accelerating in reverse in a stolen GMC pickup to ram the cruiser showed Kollman acted "cold, cruel and calculating."
"He knew exactly what he wanted to achieve," Gibson said.
Phil Posada, the Yakima police officer driving the cruiser Kollman slammed into, said he was starting to get out the patrol car to approach the pickup when Kollman into his car. Posada said Kollman's behavior that day made him one of the most dangerous men Posada has pursued in his 10 years with the department.
"I never had a chance to shoot him," Posada said. "I wish I would have."
Posada and the other pursuing officer, Elaine Gonzalez, are named in a lawsuit seeking civil damages against the city filed on behalf of the estates of Ayala and Barajas.
Mariano Morales, attorney for the Ayala family, said the pair died after police allowed the chase to continue knowing Kollman had no intention of stopping.
Ayala and Barajas were returning to Ayala's home from a baptism at San Diego Parish in Cowiche when the crash occurred June 20. They had a green light at the intersection of North 16th and Englewood avenues just as Kollman was running a red light there.
At that point Kollman had driven more than 20 blocks from South 40th and Washington avenues, where he rammed Pasada's police cruiser.
Anne Garcia, a friend of Barajas, launched into a verbal tirade on Kollman before turning on the two officers who pursued him, saying they all "put lives at risk." The judge asked Garcia to use restraint after she began shouting in expletives at the officers.
"People like you don't deserve to live," Garcia told Kollman.
Kollman earlier pleaded guilty to the deaths in a deal with prosecutors to reduce charges from first- to second-degree murder.
He also pleaded guilty to nine additional charges, including two counts of second-degree assault, attempting to elude a police officer, second-degree burglary, possession of a controlled substance, two counts of theft of a motor vehicle and two counts of hit-and-run driving.
The 11 counts occurred in a span of about two hours that Sunday afternoon in 2010. Kollman first stole a Ford F150 from Hahn Motor Co. before being pursued and striking a car at Third Street and Pacific Avenue. From there, he ran to nearby A.C. Auto Sales, where he stole a second pickup, driving it through a fence and past police officers.
The chase that followed lasted about 14 minutes through much of Yakima before ending in the fatal crash.
It was the second time in recent years that innocent victims have died in Yakima during a police pursuit. In 2006, two young men died when their car was struck at South 48th Avenue and Nob Hill Boulevard. Blake Young, the driver who caused the crash, was fleeing police in a stolen car.
Young was convicted of murder and sentenced to 36 years in prison, and the case led to tougher state laws for running from police. Wrongful-death lawsuits by the families of the two victims were settled for $430,000.
* Contact Mike Faulk at 509-577-7675 or mfaulk@yakimaherald.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Mike_Faulk.
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