Crime & Safety

Clemmons' Getaway Driver Sentenced to 420 Years

Darcus Allen receives 100 years for each of the four Lakewood police officers who were murders, plus 20 years for a gun charge.

Pierce County Superior Court Judge Federick Fleming handed down a 420-year prison sentence Friday to Darcus Allen for his involvement in the death of four Lakewood police officers.

Allen was at the Tacoma Municipal Courthouse last month.

The severity of the crime brought a 100-year sentence for the death of each officer and another 20 years for the gun used in the crimes.

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Before the sentencing portion of the hearing began, Allen's defense attorneys argued their client should receive a new trial. Defense attorneys Mary K. High and Peter Mazzone filed paperwork May 31 arguing that prosecutorial and juror misconduct cost their client a fair trial. Prosecutors have countered in court paperwork that the trial was justifiable.

Prosecutors said Allen drove Maurice Clemmons to a coffee shop outside Lakewood on Nov. 29, 2009, then waited nearby while Clemmons fatally shot Lakewood Police Sgt. Mark Renninger and Officers Ronnie Owens, Tina Griswold and Greg Richards.

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Clemmons, the gunman, fled afterward but was shot and killed three days later by a Seattle police officer following the largest manhunt in Washington state history.


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