Deputy Marshal Fired One Shot Striking Driver In The Neck: Officials

PORTLAND, OR — A deputy United States marshal fired one shot into an SUV whose driver was trying to escape, officials said Tuesday. The driver, whom they identified as Roman Culver, was hit once in the neck and remained hospitalized Tuesday.

The incident happened early Monday afternoon on Ash Street by Southeast 11th Avenue.

A team of marshals from the Pacific Northwest Violent Offenders Task Force were looking for Culver, a 23-year-old fugitive from King County in Washington, according to the Marshals Office.

The office said that the deputies had developed information on where to find Culver. When they got there, Culver was in an SUV and rammed it into two vehicles belonging to the marshals, the Marshals Office said.

It was at that point that one of the deputies fired a shot into Culver's vehicle, according to the Marshals Office. He added that a second man had been in the SUV and that person was bleeding, possibly from the shattered glass from the gunshot.

Two women were in the back seat of the car and were turned over to the custody of the Portland Police Bureau, the Marshals office said.

Culver is wanted in Washington for first-degree robbery with a firearm and escape, according to the Marshals Office.

The Marshals Office also said that Culver is a "person of interest" in a homicide investigation and there is information connecting him to a drive-by shooting in Washington.

Court records also indicate that Culver was arrested in Clackamas County five years ago during a sex trafficking investigation.

The Clackamas County Sheriff's Office said that Culver had been arrested following a chase that started when Wilsonville police tried to stop a car that they believed had at least one passenger connected to prostitution.

The chase was suspended when the car — that they later determined had been driven by Culver — struck another vehicle, according to the sheriff's office.

A short time later, the car was found in Tualatin suspended in a tree, the sheriff's office said, not elaborating on how that had happened.

They said that they then helped two women from the car, adding that they were both treated at a hospital and received help from Safety Compass of Oregon, an anti-trafficking group.

It was not immediately clear what the disposition of the case against Culver was in that incident.