SPOKANE VALLEY -- The family of an elderly Spokane Valley pastor killed in an officer-involved shooting in August has hired a private investigator to dig deeper into the case.
On the night of August 25, Spokane County Sheriff's deputy Brian Hirzel shot and killed Scott Creach, 74, in the parking lot of Creach's business, The Plant Farm.
Creach's family is still waiting for a decision from Spokane Country Prosecutor Steve Tucker on whether Hirzel will be criminally charged, but they are also conducting their own investigation into what happened that night.
The Creach's hired a private forensic investigator to double check all the evidence. Last week, the private investigator completed the forensic testing on Hirzel's unmarked Sheriff's patrol vehicle, more than a month and a half after the pastor was killed. Scott's son Alan Creach told KREM 2 News the test results he ordered on the car were inconclusive.
"We want to have all the evidence in this case preserved until we have an opportunity for an independent investigator to look at it and I feel a little cheated here," said Alan.
Alan sent a spoilage order on September 23 to law enforcement requesting all evidence within the vehicle be preserved for a separate investigation. But authorities couldn't process the request because Hirzel's patrol car was already back in service.
According to Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich, within twelve hours of the shooting, the car was processed for evidence. Then it was released back into patrol service by 6:00 a.m. on August 27, less than 48 hours after the shooting.
"If we would've known about the spoilage order sooner we would've held it, but once it's processed by forensics there's really no reason to hold the vehicle," said Sheriff Knezovich.
Alan told KREM 2 News he may continue this third party investigation of his father's death, because he is convinced Deputy Hirzel made a mistake in shooting his father.
"There's a procedure problem here and we're not going to stop until there's the acknowledgment that this was the wrong thing to do," said Alan.
Alan said he doesn't plan to take any civil action at this time against Spokane County. However, in the spoilage order it refers to the need to preserve evidence in the event that any civil lawsuit is filed.
