Tuesday, March 18, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
North Las Vegas Police Chief Alan Nelson was meeting this morning with City Manager Linda Hinson to decide his fate after he was arrested on a drunken driving charge.
And while Mayor James Seastrand has suggested that Nelson resign, the decision is not up to him, he said.
"I'm waiting for the city manager to take action," Seastrand said. "I did not ask for him to resign. But I think that Nelson would serve himself and the community best if he resigned. The city manager has not informed me as to what the decision will be."
As of this morning, Seastrand had not yet spoken to the chief, Hinson or other council members, he said.
Hinson was in a meeting at City Hall about 7:45 a.m. today with Nelson and staff members to discuss disciplinary action, a city spokeswoman said.
Nelson had driven from a sports lounge on Rancho Drive at 7:10 p.m. Friday after watching a televised game with friends when he was stopped by a Metro Police patrol officer on Lone Mountain Road near Torrey Pines Drive, just blocks from his home. Officers said they smelled alcohol and gave Nelson breath and field sobriety tests, which Metro said he failed.
A source said Nelson was "barely over the legal limit" for alcohol consumption.
Nelson was cited on a charge of driving under the influence and booked into the Las Vegas City Jail and later released.
A court date for Nelson had not been set in Las Vegas Municipal Court on the misdemeanor charge because the paperwork had not yet been received from Metro, a city attorney spokeswoman said today.
Nelson was driving a city-owned vehicle assigned to him, Seastrand said.
Besides the DUI charge, it also bothers Seastrand that Nelson was driving a city-owned car.
"Had he gone onto the street and killed someone, the city could have been held liable for millions of dollars in claims," Seastrand said. "He knows he's not supposed to use a city-owned car. They're not issued to them for their personal use. It's against our policy."
The chief, deputy chiefs and detectives are assigned vehicles that they drive home in case they're called out on police business.
"The policy for detectives is that they drive them to and from their residences and use them only for call-outs, but I don't know what the policy for the chief and deputy chiefs is," Lt. Chris Larotonda said.
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