MOSES LAKE — A physician who spent years practicing medicine in Moses Lake before later working in Colorado is in custody after a shootout with federal law enforcement officers in Florida earlier this week.
Authorities say Thomas Steffens, 72, a former neurosurgeon who most recently worked at the VA hospital in Grand Junction, Colorado, was arrested Monday in Vero Beach, Florida, following an exchange of gunfire with members of a U.S. Marshals regional fugitive task force.
Steffens previously practiced medicine for many years in Moses Lake, where he became known in the community as a local doctor before leaving the area to continue his medical career elsewhere.
The arrest stems from allegations in Colorado that Steffens drugged a victim with prescription medications and sexually assaulted her on Jan. 28. After an investigation by the Grand Junction Police Department, authorities issued a warrant for his arrest Feb. 25 on multiple sexual assault charges…