Metro officers gun down man while serving warrants

Two plain-clothes Metro Police officers attempting to serve felony warrants shot and killed a man Thursday after one of the officers was pinned in the door of a moving truck.

The incident was Clark County's third officer-involved fatal shooting this year.

A 32-year-old man who tried to drive away from the scene -- a business complex in the 6200 block of Industrial Road -- was shot at by both officers, including one who was being dragged from the passenger side of the fleeing vehicle. Police say the vehicle was a stolen truck hauling what they believe was stolen property.

The man, who police said was a wanted felon, died at the scene. The Clark County coroner's office said today he has not yet been positively identified.

Two other people, including a woman whose role in the incident remained unclear today, were arrested at the scene. Police believe she was the girlfriend of the man who was killed.

She was identified today as Joan Signorello, 23, of Las Vegas. She was booked on a warrant for petty larceny.

The other man was identified as Howard Tony DiPietro, 34, of Las Vegas, a three-time convicted felon, police said. He was charged with battery on a police officer, resisting arrest and was booked on warrants for possession of stolen property and attempted burglary.

A rifle was recovered from the cab of the truck, Police Capt. Greg Jolley said today, but he noted that the officers did not see the weapon at the time of the incident.

Police had gone to the Britcher Palms Business Center after an informant told them that a man wanted on warrants was going to be there attempting to sell stolen merchandise.

At about 2:45 p.m. Thursday the officers from the Southeast Area Command's problem-solving unit staked out the complex.

One of the officers spotted DiPietro in the parking lot and tried to arrest him, but DiPietro jumped into the passenger side of a stolen Ford F-150 pickup, police said.

Another man and a woman were in the truck and DiPietro yelled at them to drive off, police said. One of the officers grabbed DiPietro and was struggling with him as the truck moved through the parking lot.

The driver hit several parked cars with the passenger door pinning the officer between the door and the door frame, police said.

In an effort to stop the truck and keep the officer from being crushed, his partner fired a shot at the driver through the driver's side window, police said. At the same time the officer trapped in the door also fired a shot at the driver, and one of the two bullets hit him in the chest.

It is not yet known which of the bullets killed the man.

The officer who was caught in the truck's door was not injured, police said.

The Britcher Palms business complex is made up of five large office buildings, each housing several offices serving mainly industrial businesses. The shooting took place on the north side of the complex just south of the Union Pacific Railroad tracks and west of Interstate 15.

The two officers involved in Thursday's shooting have been placed on administrative leave, and their names will not be released for 48 hours.

The shooting marked the third time this year that Clark County police have shot and killed someone.

On April 12 John Perrin was shot and killed by Metro officer Bruce Gentner on a pedestrian stop at Tropicana Avenue and Rainbow Boulevard. After being stopped Perrin reached into his waistband and Gentner fired 14 times at him.

The officer said he thought the 32-year-old man was reaching for a weapon, but Perrin was actually reaching for drug paraphernalia. A coroner's inquest ruled that the shooting was justifiable, but Perrin's family is now suing Metro and Gentner for $25 million.

On Feb. 21 a man pointed a gun at officers after police responded to a home in the 6600 block of Delphinium Avenue, in northwest Las Vegas. The man had been arguing with his girlfriend and had pointed the gun at his own head several times, police said.

The officers told the man to put the gun down, but he pointed it at the officers, prompting them to fire at him. The 43-year-old man died at the scene.

The Henderson Police Department also had an officer-involved shooting on Feb. 11.

Officer Brian Flatt shot J.C. Daniels, 21, at the Oasis Greens apartments, 2001 Ramrod Ave., after Daniels stabbed Flatt four times with a knife. A coroner's inquest found the shooting to be justified.

In the last 23 years, on-duty law enforcement officers have killed 85 people in Clark County and none of the officers were held criminally liable for the deaths, according to coroner's office records.

Sun ReporterEd Koch contributed to this report.

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