MOHAVE COUNTY, Ariz. (KTNV) — Authorities are searching for a suspect involved in a theft that spanned multiple states and ended with one person dead.
It began on Thursday around 1:42 p.m. when deputies with the Mohave County Sheriff's Office responded to the area of S. Pearl Street at E. Chapparral Road in Fort Mohave. Deputies were investigating the theft of a mail truck.
The driver of the mail truck was away from the vehicle when a car pulled up. The passenger got out of the car and jumped into the mail truck before both drivers left the scene.
About an hour later, Las Vegas Metro police found the involved vehicle in the 2900 block of S. Casino Drive in Laughlin.
Authorities were able to identify two people who had driven the car to this location, and found one of them behind a building along the river.
When approached, that person pointed a gun toward the officer. The person ran off as the officer took cover.
Officers pursued the person to a boat dock, and the person stole a boat, fleeing to the Arizona side of the river.
That person then ran the boat aground, authorities said, and ran to an apartment complex in the 1600 block of Highway 95 in Bullhead City.
Around 3:41 p.m., officers found that person in the parking lot of the apartments. When officers pulled in, that person pulled out a gun and began firing at the officer when he got out of his vehicle.
The officer engaged the subject in gunfire. A second officer arrived and also engaged the subject with gunfire. The person was eventually hit.
Officers performed life-saving measures and summoned medical personnel to the scene. However, the subject had succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead on the scene.
The subject has been identified as Erick Tom Watkins, 48, of Bullhead City. A records check revealed Watkins had multiple active felony warrants.
Around the same time of the shooting, the stolen mail truck was located abandoned approximately four miles from where it had been stolen.
Mail and personal items from the truck had been removed.
The second suspect involved in the vehicle theft is still outstanding.
Anyone with information on the second suspect is encouraged to contact our office at 928-753-0753.
Detectives with the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office are handling the officer-involved shooting investigation and were assisted by Detectives with the Kingman Police Department.
