Rodolfo Ballardo

Deadly force

Rodolfo Ballardo and Marcos Ruiz-Zazueta, 43, were stopped for a suspended license plate. During the traffic stop, the driver was asked to exit the other. While the trooper was speaking to the driver, the passenger fired a shot at the trooper, and the trooper fired back. Both Ballardo and Ruiz-Zazueta fled in the other, prompting a pursuit. Ballardo then exited the other and fled on foot until he hijacked a big rig from a sleeping truck driver. DPS pursued the big rig, and in an exchange of gunfire between Ballardo and troopers, he was shot and killed.