TUCSON, Ariz. — Court documents offer new details in the incident that led to a Tohono O'odham Police officer's death in the town of Why last week.
According to the criminal complaint filed in federal court, the incident began when TOPD officers responded to a call near the Desert Diamond Casino in Why. There, Officer Bryan Brown found Carlos Maximilliano Galvan, approximately age 39, standing outside of his car holding a broken bottle. Galvan approached Officer Brown with the bottle in his hand as Brown backed away from his patrol vehicle.
Then, Galvan got into Brown's fully-marked patrol car and tried to drive away onto Highway 86. Then he turned the car around onto the dirt shoulder and hit a U.S. Border Patrol Vehicle while an agent was standing beside it. He then drove the car toward Officer Brown, who fired his weapon at the vehicle several times before Galvan hit him and ran him over with the car, the complaint says. Galvan then drove west on Highway 86.
Galvan led police on a chase, hitting two more Border Patrol vehicles in the process. Eventually, TOPD and Border Patrol agents were able to take him into custody. Later, Galvan told investigators he had been awake for days and was high on meth during the incident.
Officer Brown was airlifted to a hospital in Phoenix, but doctors weren't able to save his life. He was pronounced dead at around 11 a.m. that morning.
The Tohono O'odham Nation says Brown was a 19-year veteran of the Tohono O'odham Police Department, including his 10 most recent years as a school resource officer. The nation says he's survived by his wife, seven children, four step-children, eight grandchildren, seven siblings and his father.
