On January 8, 2018 around 4:15pm a Chandler patrol officer conducted a vehicle stop on Riggs Rd. east of Arizona Ave. The vehicle had two occupants, a 40-year-old female and 27-year-old Allen Pedro. Pedro was the vehicle operator and stopped his vehicle in the median, adjacent to a left turn bay. Both the female and Pedro were found to have valid arrest warrant arrests. A second Chandler patrol officer arrived on-scene as back-up and the female passenger was taken into custody without incident.
The initial patrol officer re-contacted Pedro, who was asked to exit the vehicle. Pedro did not comply, which resulted in a brief struggle between Pedro and the original officer. During the struggle, Pedro shifted the vehicle into drive and accelerated away , dragging the officer along the side of the vehicle. The back-up officer chased after Pedro on foot. After driving east bound through a break in the raised median, Pedro continued driving the vehicle east bound in the west bound lanes of Riggs Rd before making a u-turn near a railroad crossing. Now traveling westbound, Pedro drove straight at the back-up officer, who fired multiple rounds at Pedro.
Pedro continued driving to Arizona Ave. where he turned southbound and proceeded to the junction with State Route 587. Once there, Pedro drove about a half mile south before abandoning the vehicle along the side of the highway. Officers from the Gila River Police Department located the abandoned vehicle near mile marker 222. Officers from the Chandler Police Department and Gila River Police Department, along with deputies from the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office, troopers from the Department of Public Safety, and agents from the FBI conducted an thorough ground search in the desert west of the abandoned vehicle with support from air units and K-9s.
After an extensive search Pedro was not located.
On January 10, 2018, Pedro contacted the Gila River Police Department and said he wanted to turn himself in. After contacting the Chandler Police Department, the Gila River Police Department instructed Pedro to drive to a pre-determined location for surrender to the Chandler Police Department. Pedro was taken into custody that afternoon without incident and was eventually booked into the Maricopa County Jail on two counts of Aggravated Assault.