Suspects in Keller shooting charged with assaulting federal officer
Nov. 3—Three suspects involved in a shooting that left two dead on the Colville Indian Reservation last month were indicted Tuesday in federal court on charges of assaulting an officer with a deadly weapon during a car chase.
Zachary Holt, Dezmonique Tenzsley and Curry Pinkham were charged in US District Court with assault on a federal officer and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence.
Colville Tribal Police Sgt. Kris Brakebill was shot in the forearm while pursuing the suspects’ vehicle after the deadly shooting on Oct. 20, according to a sworn affidavit by FBI Special Agent David DiBartolo.
Brakebill is a special commissioned officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Brakebill was responding to reports of gunfire at a trailer in Keller when he encountered a red Honda sedan matching the suspect vehicle description on Cache Creek Road, about 15 miles northwest of Keller, DiBartolo wrote. Brakebill was shot at several times while chasing the vehicle, which got away.
The following day, Tenzsley and Holt were arrested in Nespelem and Pinkham was arrested in Elmer City.
Tenzsley was also charged in district court as a felon in possession of ammunition.
Tenzsley’s criminal record includes felony convictions for escape out of Pierce County in 2009 and second-degree assault in Asotin County in 2012, according to court records. It is illegal for him to possess ammunition for firearms.
Tenzsley pleaded not guilty to all three charges at an arraignment hearing Wednesday. He waived a detention hearing and is being held in Spokane County Jail.
Holt and Pinkham are listed in custody of the Colville Tribal Correctional Facility at Nespelem.
Holt faces charges under the criminal code of the tribe that includes criminal homicide, attempted criminal homicide against a law enforcement officer, obstruction of justice and weapons offenses.
Pinkham faces charges of aiding and abetting criminal homicide, reckless endangerment and attempting to elude a police vehicle.
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Two people, who have not been identified, were found dead in the trailer in Keller.
The house where the trailer was parked burned down on Monday. The cause of the fire is under investigation.
James Hanlon’s reporting for The Spokesman Review is funded in part by Report for America and by members of the Spokane community. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper’s managing editor.