Man pleads guilty to assault on a federal officer in Des Moines

A 29-year-old Tukwila man pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to assault on a federal officer and using a firearm in a crime of violence during an October 2021 incident near a Des Moines gas station and Safeway store.

Francisco Luis Rodriguez entered the plea Sept. 14, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release. Prosecutors and Rodriguez will both recommend a 10-year prison sentence when he is sentenced Dec. 6 before U.S. District Judge James L. Robart.

According to the plea agreement, on Oct. 27, 2021, agents with the U.S. Marshal Service Violent Offender Task Force were working to arrest Rodriguez in connection with the Oct. 14, 2021, armed kidnapping of his former girlfriend.

Task Force officers located Rodriguez late in the afternoon at a gas station in Des Moines in the 27000 block of Pacific Highway South. The officers blocked Rodriguez’ car and identified themselves as police. Rodriguez jumped out of the car and fired one shot into the roof of the gas station.

As he fled, he was waving the gun around and pointing it at police and at his head. The firearm was a Glock handgun with an extended magazine. Rodriguez ran towards a busy Safeway grocery store nearby. Task force officers followed and fired shots to stop Rodriguez before he reached the store. Rodriguez was wounded and taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he recovered.

Assault on a federal officer is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Use of a firearm in a crime of violence is punishable by a mandatory minimum seven years in prison and up to life in prison.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshal Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) and the Des Moines Police Department.