LEWIS COUNTY, Wash. — William Thompson will spend the next 45 years in prison for causing a crash on I-5 that killed Washington State Patrol Trooper Justin Schaffer in 2020.
Lewis County Judge Andrew Toynbee gave Thompson the maximum sentence following an emotional hearing Tuesday afternoon.
On March 24, 2020, Thurston County deputies were chasing Thompson down I-5 following a robbery at a convenience store. Thompson was accused of trying to run over a store clerk.
When the chase reached Chehalis, Trooper Schaffer attempted to stop Thompson by using spike strips.
Investigators said Thompson, 41, swerved around the strips and then intentionally drove at Schaffer, running him over. Schaffer was taken to the hospital but died from his injuries.
Thompson eventually lost control of the truck.
After a standoff that lasted nearly one and a half hours, which included police firing smoke canisters into the truck, Thompson was arrested.
Shaffer, 28, left behind a wife.
In addition to the murder charge for Schaffer’s death, Thompson faced an attempted murder charge for trying to hit another state trooper.
Thompson entered guilty pleas to the two charges in June.
“He wasn’t done sharing his love and his smile,” said Glenn Schaffer, the trooper’s father said in court prior to sentencing Tuesday.
Glenn Schaffer was the former police chief of Chehalis and had been responding to the pursuit of Thompson when Schaffer learned what happened to his son.
“He had more adventures, he had more to do,” said Glenn Schaffer, “And it was stolen from him. It was stolen from us.”