Police kill man who led them on pursuit

A dangerous pursuit takes law enforcement all across the valley and when they finally caught up with the suspect, they're forced to open fire -- and investigators later found out that the man is no stranger to the law.

Authorities say 51-year-old Ronald Chante stole a semi-truck cab, led them on a high-speed chase, rammed into at least one police vehicle and nearly hit pedestrians.

Phoenix police say the truck cab was stolen from a landfill facility near 22nd Avenue and Lower Buckeye on Sunday morning.

Witnesses told authorities that the man pulled into a gas station and asked a customer to go inside and get him two energy drinks before he suddenly floored the truck and peeled out.

Chante led them on a chase -- he drove the wrong way on Interstate 17, then got off the highway and made his way to Tempe, where he rammed police cars.  In Mesa, he even tried to ram someone in their car.  Then he made his way to Apache Junction.

Police say Chante nearly hit two people before an officer apparently fired into the cab, killing him -- just a few hundred feet from his home.

Now, Chante's girlfriend is speaking out in his defense. She says officers shouldn't have shot him.

She was hoping he would be tased instead, but police say they had no choice. He rammed three police cars and tried to carjack an innocent driver before he was shot.

"Heartbreak, its heartbreak," says Josie Passmore, struggling with the death of her longtime boyfriend.

"All he wanted to do, he was coming home and why he didn't call me, I have no idea, because he always called."

Passmore says he had mental health problems and was diagnosed bipolar. Over the last few weeks, she says his behavior got worse.

Chante had two arrests this month and was busted on criminal charges back on June 10.  According to Maricopa County Sheriff's deputies, Chante told them he wanted to assassinate Sheriff Joe Arpaio.

In jail, Passmore says he threatened to kill President Obama too. Passmore got a call from the Secret Service about that.

"As far as being aggressive I've never seen it. He's never harmed me, he's never raised a hand to me."

Passmore says after talking to MCSO and the Secret Service, they told her they didn't think he was a threat but needed mental help. By that time, Chante had been released from jail and broke into a city lot to steal a truck because he didn't have a ride home.

Passmore wishes she could have done more.

"Get them help even if they say they don't need it, they need help they do."

Arpaio said he's just glad that no one was seriously injured or killed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.