Meth recipe a bitter end to joyride at airport

District Judge Jeff Sobel had indicated he might give probation to a methamphetamine influenced man who led police on a 19-minute, high-speed chase across the runways and taxiways at McCarran International Airport in March.

But that was before the judge was told Thursday that while Jonathan Brough III was in jail awaiting sentencing, he obtained the formula to manufacture methamphetamine and mailed it to himself at his home.

Instead of going home after court to pick up the mail with his prized recipe, Brough will be spending the next one to four years in prison.

Deputy District Attorney Gary Booker said authorities had obtained Brough's letter shortly before Thursday's court session.

Booker said a test of Brough's blood after his hard-fought apprehension by police at McCarran Airport had showed a high level of methamphetamine in his system. The level was so high that medical staff would not release the restraining straps on Brough's gurney until he was sedated.

The incident began when the driver forced his way past a security guard at a construction gate leading to the McCarran runways, yelling, "I gotta go. I gotta go."

The guard called authorities, and several security vehicles and Metro Police cars responded to pursue Brough's car around the airport grounds by the C and D terminals, the prosecutor said. At times, speeds reached 70 mph, and authorities shut down part of the airport as a safety precaution.

Booker emphasized there was no breakdown of the security system at the airport and the guard did everything he could do at the temporary construction gate to prevent the access.

The March 24, 1998, pursuit ended when a Metro patrol car rammed Brough's vehicle to prevent it from colliding with a loaded Boeing 737. Had that not been successful, officers were prepared to shoot the 42-year-old man, Booker said.

But even after the 42-year-old Las Vegas man's car was disabled, the incident wasn't concluded, Booker said, because it took several officers to subdue him.

Brough eventually resolved the criminal case by pleading guilty on Sept. 21 to a felony charge of failing to stop on the signal of a police officer and a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of a controlled substance.

While federal authorities could have prosecuted Brough because the incident occurred at a federally controlled international airport, Booker said the U.S. attorney's office requested state authorities take the case.

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