A 50-year-old man was charged Friday with aggravated first-degree murder, accused of killing Everett police Officer Dan Rocha last month, according to Snohomish County prosecutors.
Rocha, 41, died March 25 after he was shot five times and driven over by Richard Rotter as he fled from the scene, according to the prosecutor’s office. Rotter was also charged on Friday with unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver.
At about 2 p.m., Rocha was working when he went into a Starbucks at 1010 N. Broadway Ave. and noticed Rotter in the parking lot moving items, some of which appeared to be firearms, from a blue Mini Cooper into a silver Ford Fusion, according to charging papers.
Rocha turned on his body-worn camera and radioed dispatch that he was checking on “suspicious” circumstances, and asked for a backup officer, the charges say. He approached Rotter and asked about the guns.
Rotter told Rocha he had just bought the Ford and gave him his ID. During the interaction, Rocha learned from dispatchers that Rotter had two misdemeanor warrants for a domestic-violence assault from another county and that he had a previous felony conviction, the charges say.
When Rocha told Rotter he was now under investigation for unlawful possession of a firearm as a felon, Rotter became agitated. Rocha attempted to put Rotter in handcuffs and the two fell to the pavement and wrestled, until five distinct “pops” were heard, according to the charges.
Rotter is then seen on the camera footage standing up and going toward the Mini Cooper. The camera stayed on as the car backed over Rocha and drove away, and as first responders attempted to deliver aid to Rocha.
Rocha was pronounced dead at the scene.
The charging documents also detail cellphone video shot by a witness that showed Rocha attempting to detain Rotter and Rotter drawing a handgun and firing it at least three times at Rocha’s head. The person recording the encounter then dropped the camera and the video ended.
Another bystander cellphone video also captured sound of the gunfire and video of the car accelerating in reverse over the officer’s body and then out of the parking lot, the charges say.
Rotter was arrested after engaging police officers in a pursuit and colliding with two other cars. Police found nearly 2,000 pills “consistent with fentanyl,” heroin, methamphetamine and firearms in the Ford, documents say.
While bail was set at $5 million in March after his arrest, prosecutors requested Rotter be held without bail, which the judge agreed to, Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office’s chief of staff Michael Held said.
Rotter’s last known address is in Kennewick. At the time of his arrest, he was wanted on two misdemeanor warrants for a domestic violence assault on Dec. 7 and a hit-and-run in July out of Benton County, according to a probable cause statement.
Rocha had served with the Everett Police Department since 2017, the department said in a statement. He first worked in parking enforcement and in 2018 became a fully commissioned police officer. He is survived by a wife and two children.