The man suspected of driving Maurice Clemmons away from the coffee shop where he killed four Lakewood police officers served time in an Arkansas prison after being convicted as an accomplice in a double murder there 19 years ago.
Pierce County prosecutors on Wednesday charged Darcus D. Allen, 37, with being a fugitive from justice and asked a judge to order him held without bail on an arrest warrant from Arkansas, where he is wanted on charges of robbery, theft and probation violations.
Superior Court Judge Thomas Larkin granted the request and ordered Allen to appear in court Dec. 30 for another appearance.
"We'll see what the state of Arkansas is going to do between now and then," Larkin told Allen. That buys Pierce County sheriff's detectives time to investigate Allen's role in Sunday's killings of Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and officers Tina Griswold, 40, Greg Richards, 42, and Ronald Owens, 37.
Richards shot Clemmons once before being fatally wounded.
Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said investigators might request murder charges against Allen if they can prove he knew what Clemmons intended to do Sunday at the Forza Coffee Co. shop in Parkland.
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