Family accepts NBA award for Metro officer killed in crash

By Jeff Pope

Sunday, July 12, 2009 | 8:47 p.m.

Metro Police Officer James Manor is well known because of how he died. But on Sunday, the NBA Summer League honored Manor for how he lived.

His 30-year-old brother, Anthony Manor, accepted the NBA's Heroes Among Us award on his behalf before a summer league game at the Cox Pavilion.

James Manor's 10 siblings, mother, fiancee and 8-year-old daughter also attended the ceremony.

Afterward, Anthony Manor talked with the media for the first time since James died in a high-speed car crash on May 7 while in the line of duty. The 28-year-old officer was 13 days shy of celebrating his second year with Metro.

"We're a close-knit family. One of the 11 is missing. That's a tough drill for us," Anthony said.

The NBA selected Manor for the award because of his involvement in the West Las Vegas neighborhood where he grew up.

James, the ninth of 11 children, coached basketball and football at community centers and schools for a city outreach sports program. He also mentored children through a juvenile detention program and was active in his church.

His advocacy for his community is what led him to join the police force, Anthony said.

"We grew up in the projects. It's a tough life, especially for 11 kids," he said. "We're positive people, we're a positive influence in our community and I believe he wanted to get the riff-raff out of his community to bring more positive to this Las Vegas community."

James starred in football and basketball at Clark High School and the bigger the game, the better he played, Anthony said. "Jamie" would have loved to receive the NBA's award in person.

"He's always a big-stage person, big game on the big stage, that's what he was always about. So this is right up his alley," he said.

Brad Query, Manor's Clark High School coach and a family friend, said James was an intelligent player, a natural born leader and the product of a strong family. "I remember Jamie just said something and they listened.

He's kind of like the second coach, on the floor, and just very bright," he said. "Everything he did was 100 percent.

"I have two daughters ... and I hope that one day when they get married that they could marry somebody even close to the quality of man that he was. I'd be honored."

Officer Manor was responding to a domestic violence call after midnight in the west valley. He was eastbound on Flamingo Road when his cruiser collided with a Chevrolet Silverado truck making a left turn. Both vehicles were turned upside-down and caught fire.

At the time, police said the driver of the truck ignored the emergency lights and siren even though several witnesses said they never heard the sirens.

The 45-year-old driver of the truck, Calvin Darling, was arrested for driving under the influence. After an investigation, Sheriff Doug Gillespie said Manor drove at speeds reaching 109 mph and the lights and sirens were off. Police dropped the charges against Darling.

The incident generated a lot of media attention, which the Manor family shunned, preferring to remain positive, Anthony said.

"We're not negative people. We're very positive people. There's such a negative connotation lingering over something that's so positive," he said.

"The man was on his way to save someone's life. Whether he was in the church saving lives, whether he was in the community doing community active stuff, saving lives, he was on the job."