Officer Patrick Martin Maher, 46, was killed on August 2, 2003 after intervening in a fight in a Kent parking lot at South 272nd Street and Pacific Highway South. Maher, a U.S. Coast Guard veteran who had served seven years with the Honolulu Police Department and seven months with the Federal Way Police Department, broke up an altercation involving two brothers and one brother’s ex-girlfriend. One man, later identified as Jason Scott Roberts, fled on foot. Maher pursued; during a struggle as Roberts attempted to climb a fence, Roberts gained control of Maher’s firearm and shot him in the abdomen, below his bullet-resistant vest. Maher was taken to Harborview Medical Center and died of his injuries.

Roberts was arrested at the scene after another brother restrained him. He was charged with first-degree murder, later pled guilty, and on December 9, 2005 was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Was anyone in the area that morning able to see what led to the initial fight or the chase?