Sheriff’s deputy shoots and kills wanted woman after 19-minute chase in Wichita

Update, 3:45 p.m.:

The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office has identified the woman who was killed in an officer-involved shooting early Monday morning.

Debra D. Arbuckle, 51, of Andover, was pronounced dead at the scene after she was shot by a 26-year-old sheriff’s deputy. The shooting came after law enforcement pursued a vehicle, with the chase ending in a crash.

“It is unfortunate anytime someone is injured or killed in a use of force event,” Lt. Tim Myers said in a statement. “The Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office extends sympathy to the members of Arbuckle’s family.”

The sheriff’s office said Arbuckle had three active felony warrants in Sedgwick County at the time of her death and was listed as an absconder by the Kansas Department of Corrections. The warrants were for failure to appear in court on drug possession, criminal possession of a gun and traffic charges. She had previously been arrested 38 times — 35 of which were in Sedgwick County.

Original story:

A woman who was wanted after absconding from parole is dead after a pair of early-morning police chases ended in a sheriff’s deputy shooting and killing her.

The shooting happened less than a minute after a deputy used a patrol vehicle to hit a Volkswagen CC at around 3:43 a.m. on Monday near Mount Vernon and Webb. The identity of the woman who died has not been released.

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Col. Brian White said the first chase was started by a Wichita Police Department officer at around 3:12 a.m. and later called off. A second chase started at around 3:24 a.m. when a sheriff’s deputy tried to stop the same vehicle near MacArthur and K-15.

The driver of the Volkswagon sped away, and deputies pursued for about 19 minutes. During the pursuit, tire deflation devices were deployed twice and succeeded in slowing down the car “quite a bit,” White said. Deputies attempted a tactical vehicle intervention technique, or TVI, three times.

White described a TVI as using a push bar on the front a patrol car to “nudge” a fleeing vehicle so the driver loses control and the vehicle comes to a stop.

The first TVI attempt was unsuccessful. It worked on the second try, but the driver was able to regain control of the car. The third time, the car was forced off the road and into a yard area.

The driver of the vehicle did not comply with commands from deputies, put the car in reverse and accelerated toward deputies, White said. One deputy fired several rounds and hit the driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene at around 4 a.m.

White declined to say how many shots were fired or how close the deputy was to being hit by the car. The deputy was standing behind the car when it reversed toward him.

The deputy was “fearing for his life and life of the other deputies” when he shot, White said. No deputies were hurt during the incident. The deputy who shot his gun is 26 years old and has been a deputy with the sheriff’s office for nearly six years.

The body of the approximately 50-year-old woman has been taken to the Sedgwick County Regional Forensic Science Center for an autopsy to determine the exact cause of death.

White said the original reason for the chase was traffic-related charges, but the woman had also absconded from parole and was wanted on three warrants. One warrant was related to a felon in possession of a firearm charge, White said, and she had been arrested more than 30 times in the past.

The same vehicle was also involved in a WPD chase about two weeks ago, White said.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation is assisting with the case, and the investigation is ongoing. Several body camera and patrol vehicle camera videos need to be reviewed by investigators and the Volkswagen needs to be searched before the case is presented to the district attorney.

“It is unfortunate anytime someone is injured or killed in a use of force event,” White said. “Whenever an incident such as this occurs we conduct a thorough investigation to determine if there were any violations of law or our policy.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 4:16 PM.