Arrested man leaps to death

An ex-convict jumped to his death Tuesday off the seventh floor of the Fitzgerald's hotel-casino parking garage where he'd been arrested minutes earlier for auto burglary.

The 23-year-old man was handcuffed and cooperating with arresting officers' questions when shortly before 11 a.m. he bolted from the center of the lot into the three-foot retaining wall, his momentum knocking off his pager and vaulting him to his death, Metro Police said.

"He had been totally cooperating with the officers and was talking about showing them (items) from other auto burglaries," Deputy Chief Paul Conner said.

Authorities have withheld his name until relatives are notified.

Officers with Metro's repeat offender program had been on the man's tail since about 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.

"(Police) followed him to the Fitzgerald where he parked his car and went to the court house, possibly to clear up some tickets," Conner said.

Officers doing surveillance on the man's car observed him return and follow what has been described as his typical auto burglary routine: using one hand to open his driver's side door, Conner said the man slipped his other hand behind him and tried the door on the vehicle parked alongside.

The vehicle he wound up opening, however, belonged to police, Conner said.

Police said the man removed a small, 5-inch television, a cell phone and a cassette player from the center console and was putting the items in his vehicle when detectives moved in and made the arrest.

After handcuffing the man, Conner said police called for hotel security to respond. Authorities were in the process of photographing the evidence when the man ran away and over the foot-thick wall.

"He was a high-profile offender," Conner said. "He was a two-time ex-felon for property crimes ... and prolific in residential and auto burglaries."

Conner said at least one citizen was in the parking area and witnessed the incident.

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