Sacramento, California
September 02, 2017
Cause of death: Beating
Last updated: almost 6 years ago
According to the sheriff's department, deputies were doing an investigation involving a stolen car in the parking lot of a Ramada Inn along Ramada Inn. Two women got in the car and led police on a chase that ended in Elk Grove.
As the women led police on a chase, Thomas Daniel Littlecloud, a 32-year-old Castro Valley resident, tried escaping a hotel room when he started firing an assault rifle at officers. Two CHP officers were injured in the shootout, and one sheriff's deputy was struck.
The sheriff's deputy, 52-year-old Robert French, died from his injuries on the way to the hospital. The two unidentified CHP officers are expected to survive.
Following the shootout, Littlecloud took officers on a brief chase before crashing into a pole just west of Watt Avenue. The car he was driving was reported stolen out of the Bay Area, officials said.
Priscilla Prendez, the 23-year-old Oakland resident who led officers on a chase to Elk Grove, was arrested and charged with vehicle theft and felony evasion. The other woman was questioned and later released.
Deputy French was a 21-year veteran with the sheriff's department. He is survived by three adult children, grandchildren, a sister and a live-in girlfriend.