A former NYPD officer who calls himself Robocop used his police cruiser to ram a rifle-toting suspect on a one-man crime spree, dramatic Arizona police video released Tuesday shows. <br /> <br />Marana Police officer Michael Rapiejko was hailed a hero by his chief after the department released the dramatic footage Tuesday highlighting the Feb. 19 incident. <br /> <br />"That's not an easy decision right there," Chief Terry Rozema told Tucson News Now. "That's a tough, tough, tough decision. But he made it." <br /> <br />Rozema said the suspect, Mario Valencia, was headed toward locked-down businesses and deadly force may have been necessary to prevent a hostage crisis — or something far worse. <br /> <br />"What happens when this guy gets past us?" Rozema said. "We're looking at a potential hostage situation." <br /> <br />Police descended on the 36-year-old Valencia after he allegedly stole a rifle and box of ammunition from a Tucson Walmart at 9 a.m. Feb. 19. It was part of a rampage that began with Valencia's robbery — wearing only underwear — at a 7-Eleven, then breaking into a church and setting it on fire followed by a home invasion and then boosting a car, Marana police said. <br /> <br />Valencia, rifle in hand and at times pointing the barrel under his own chin, can be seen walking down an empty street with a police cruiser following at a distance, its dashcam recording the man firing off a shot into the air. <br /> <br />"Stand off, stand off. The gun is loaded," an officer can be heard on the radio ordering a police unit approaching from the opposite direction to back off. <br /> <br />That's when Rapiejko — a CrossFit enthusiast who calls himself Robocop because of his workout regimen — flies into view, his cruiser striking Valencia and tossing him into the air. <br /> <br />"Oh! Jesus Christ! Man down," the officer in the trailing squad car shouts. <br /> <br />Rapiejko's cruiser clipped Valencia at high speed and then crashed through a cinder brick wall. Rapiejko became a Marana police officer in March 2014. He said he joined the Tucson police force in 2008 after three years with the NYPD. <br /> <br />Rapiejko was put on administrative leave because of the use of force incident, but has since been cleared of wrongdoing by the Pima County Attorney's Office, Marana Sgt. Chris Warren said. <br /> <br />Valencia spent two days in the hospital before being booked into jail on multiple felony charges.
