Deputy shoots man, ends violent rampage

A San Francisco man on LSD injured several people in Bodega Bay Thursday night and was shot by a Sonoma County deputy, sheriff’s officials said Friday.

The suspect, Betai Koffi, 32, suffered major injuries and is in critical condition at a hospital, sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said. Koffi was with five lifelong friends who rented a Bodega Bay home for the 4th of July holiday. The group arrived Wednesday at the home in the 600 block of Swan Drive, Crum said.

Friends tried to calm Koffi down when he became delusional after allegedly taking two doses of the hallucinogenic drug around noon. Between 4 and 5 p.m. Koffi took two more doses of LSD, and friends tried to stop Koffi when he wanted to leave around 8 p.m., Crum said.

The sheriff’s office said Koffi then punched a woman in the chest, stabbed a man with a pencil, choked another man and punched another man in the face at the rented house before he got into his blue Hyundai rental sedan.

Koffi hit a car parked behind him when he backed out of a driveway, drove forward towards one of the men then drove the car into the garage, lodging it into the home, Crum said.

Koffi left the car and ran down the street where a security guard confronted and questioned him. Koffi then picked up a landscape light and allegedly stabbed the guard in the chest with the end of the light, which was like a metal stake. The security guard was knocked to the ground and was unable to get back up, Crum said.

Koffi then allegedly stole the security guard’s truck, which was unlocked and running, and drove away at high speed toward a man and woman walking on the road. The truck hit the woman causing significant injuries, and the man was struck in the arm but not seriously injured, Crum said. Koffi then allegedly drove toward another man and woman who were walking on a bluff. The woman was struck and suffered significant injuries. Koffi continued driving off road, hit a wall and entered a side yard of a home before turning onto Pelican Loop, Crum said.

A sheriff’s deputy in a patrol car arrived and parked in the street, and a California Highway Patrol officer pulled up to the left of the deputy’s car. Koffi turned the truck and accelerated it toward the officer and the deputy, Crum said.

The deputy fired several shots from outside his patrol car at Koffi who then allegedly collided with the CHP vehicle. Koffi apparently kept accelerating the truck and the deputy fired several more rounds, three of them striking Koffi. The deputy took Koffi into custody and gave medical aid until paramedics arrived, Crum said.

Koffi and the first woman hit by the truck were flown to nearby hospitals. The woman’s injuries are not believed to be life-threatening. The security guard and the second woman hit by the truck were taken to a hospital and are expected to survive. Koffi’s friends in the house treated their own injuries, Crum said.

Santa Rosa police and the Sonoma County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the officer-involved shooting, and the sheriff’s office is investigating the assaults and events before the shooting, Crum said. Koffi is under arrest at the hospital for two counts of attempted murder, three counts of assault with a deadly weapon and one count of carjacking, Crum said.

The name of the deputy and video of the incidents will be released soon, Crum said.

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